I'm a Profiler, Don't Mess With Me!
by E. J. Morgan
Summary: Sequel to I'm a Profiler, Get Me Out Of Here! - Doctor Spencer Reid, the greatest trouble magnet ever seen, needs all his cunning as well as the BAU and OCU members to work together to save him from the new mess he's gotten himself into.
1. And the Award Goes To

**I.** **And the Award Goes To…**

"I'm so proud of the Kid." – Said Morgan as he stood in front of the mirror in the BAU's restroom beside Anderson, fastening his tie and checking to make sure he looked presentable enough to attend the prestigious ceremony that would take place in D.C. in just a bit over three hours. – "Who would have thought when he first joined and couldn't even walk down the stairs without tripping over his own two feet that he'd receive a Medal of Valor for his services this soon."

"Or that he'd live long enough to ever get one… Well, that's unexpected for sure." – Agreed the other man while he brushed an invisible hair off the jacket of his impeccable dress suit. – "The youngest agent ever getting an award… Hell: the youngest agent, period. Who would have thought? He's still not the right age to even be out of the Academy, let alone the member of the legendary BAU."

"He's certainly unique."

"And a celebrity. That's new too. Aside from Mulder and Scully, I've never heard of an FBI agent becoming a star."

Morgan couldn't help a giggle escaping.

"Just don't speak to him about _that_! You know, whenever he's reminded of all the publicity he has gained, I instantly forget all my doubts that he can hold his own in a fight; he immediately turns into a dangerous, fire-breathing dragon!"

"I know. He nearly took off Simons' head the other day just for mentioning one of the articles written about him. You know, the one that called him 'modern day Superman'."

The dark-skinned BAU agent made a face. He had been, of course, earwitness to the unfortunate incident with the rookie agent and Reid in the bullpen – along with everyone else in the vicinity. It hadn't been pretty. One thing was sure: the Kid had matured and learned a lot while they had been away, and could definitely stand up for himself now. He didn't even need his big brother protecting him anymore… Not that it would stop Morgan from trying, of course.

"Let's just hope today's event will be peaceful and void of unfortunate mishaps."

"I hear you. So: where is the hero himself?"

That, now that Morgan came to think of it, was a very good question indeed.

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"I said I wasn't going!" – Came the shouted declaration from inside Rossi's office where the youngest profiler had barricaded himself almost fifteen minutes ago, having refused to open the door ever since.

"And _I_ said you are, young man! If the director wants to present you with a Medal then you'd better take it!" – Argued Hotch tiredly. There was something immensely annoying about talking to a locked door. The unit chief fought the urge to start cussing in a way that certainly wouldn't be fit for a man of his status and position, and chose to plead instead. In a way that also wasn't fit for him… Grr… Well, but he was dealing with Reid and this fact alone always called for special measures and excused the most idiotic proceedings. At least that was what he told himself. – "Come on, Spencer! Please. Let's just get this over with, all right? The bus is waiting."

"No!"

The boss sighed helplessly, feeling positively stupid standing there, powerless.

"Has he come out yet?" – Asked Rossi, joining his friend on top of the catwalk, refusing the acknowledge the junior agents gaping at them from the bullpen.

"No, he's still inside." – Groaned Hotch, before knocking forcefully again. – "Reid, open that door right NOW!"

Nothing.

"Aaron, I need my office: my jacket is in there!"

"Well, you won't need it if we don't go to the ceremony, will you?" – Rolled his eyes the unit chief. – "Besides, it's your fault. Why did you have to give him a key?"

"Who said anything about giving him a key? There's only one and it's right here." – The senior profiler said, patting his pocket.

"Then how…?"

Rossi shrugged.

"My best guess is that he pushed the couch against the door." – He said helpfully.

The unit chief only shook his head in disbelief.

"There's no way he could move it."

"But I told you he still trains with the Organized Crime Unit members!" – It was true. Him and Reid had found great friends in the five men they had spent their temporary assignment with and had been keeping in touch ever since. The special agents had seemingly made it their mission to toughen the kid up and teach him everything someone working in the FBI needed to know; like martial arts and sharpshooting. Okay, maybe even a bit more than what a profiler needed, but the boy seemed to enjoy his progress and hadn't stopped working with them even since they'd been back in Quantico. So, whenever both teams were home, he would meet with Dean, Ian, Walker, Simon and Marshall to work out. Most of the time, Rossi accompanied his young teammate as well – though he only watched, of course. There was no way he would make himself suffer without an official obligation to do so.

"Oh, of all the times he should start training!" – Lamented Hotch.

JJ joined them and looked between the two men with a curious expression.

"We should be going soon, it's nearly time for the bus to pick us up." – She said, trying to figure out what was going on with the two leaders of their team. – "What's up? Why are you standing here?"

Hotch just sighed again, feeling completely useless right now. It was Rossi who answered instead of him.

"It's all right, we're just waiting for the man of the day but we'll be down soon. You can head out and board the bus, okay?"

"Sure… If there's nothing we could help with?"

"No, no. It's all fine."

"Okay." – With a last shrug that looked just a tiny bit skeptical she was gone, getting the others and heading towards the elevators.

"I swear, Dave: I'm getting too old for this!" – The unit chief suddenly blurted out when they were finally alone. – "I'm either worried out of my mind for that boy or totally infuriated with him; he always gives me reason for one of these. I sometimes wish I could give him timeout like I can do with Jack whenever he's particularly whiny…"

The senior profiler took pity on his younger colleague and patted him on the shoulder to get him to take a few deep breaths.

"Aaron, calm down. Go and join the others; we'll be there in time. I promise."

The boss looked hopeful but also a bit unsure. He shot a tentative glance at the closed door before squeezing his eyes shut and shrugging.

"If you're sure you can handle it…"

"Of course I'm sure. Go on."

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When it was only Rossi alone, he knocked on the door.

"Kiddo, it's me."

"Go away!" – Came the simple but firm reply from inside.

"It's _my_ office!"

"Oh… Okay then…" – There was the sound of shuffling feet then something heavy being pushed and the senior profiler knew instantly he had been right about the misuse of his couch. He just hoped it hadn't scratched the floor… As soon as the barricade disappeared, the owner of the place pushed the door open and stepped inside to find one Doctor Spencer Reid sitting on the ground again ('Wow, he can move swiftly.' – He thought.) with his knees drawn up tightly to his chest, arms intertwined over them as he hugged himself.

For lack of better phrase, the boy looked like a small, lost child; alone and scared. It made the older man's heart squeeze painfully, so he sat next to the young profiler with a low groan and draped an arm around him gently.

"Oh, Kiddo. What's wrong?"

"I don't want to do this!" – Sniffled the young man. – "Why can't people just get over what happened and leave me alone finally? Is that really too much to ask for!?"

"Normally, I'd even agree with you, but now? You're being awarded an official FBI Medal in D.C. by the director personally, Kiddo. It's not something others usually cry about… so: what's really wrong?"

"I don't know what you mean…"

"Aha. Try again. And how about with the truth this time?"

The boy looked at him long and thoughtfully, before he sighed and let himself relax a bit into his mentor's warm embrace.

"All right." – He took a deep breath and said the next words very quickly. – "It's just that in the letter of invitation stood we could invite our family. But I don't have…"

That was something along the lines Rossi had imagined. He enveloped the boy's bony shoulders, ignoring his own aching muscles as he sat on the uncomfortably hard and cold floor.

"Listen, Kiddo: you have your family here: Emily, JJ, Penelope, Derek and Aaron have already gone downstairs. Even Anderson and some people from the bullpen will attend. And our new friends will come, taking a bunch of pictures for later leverage to use against you, I'm afraid." – Success: Reid smiled a bit. – "You won't be alone; we're all so very proud of you!"

"I know and I'm sorry, I didn't mean to say I don't appreciate you! It's just that I tried asking mom and she… well. She still doesn't remember me so I wasn't even allowed to talk to her. The doctors said the meds should help but they don't. I think I've lost her forever."

"Don't say that, you can never know when she'll suddenly be better. And you'll always have us."

"I also wrote to Gideon but… he hasn't answered." – He whispered so quietly that the senior profiler had to really strain his ears to hear him. When he finally comprehended what he had heard, his heart gave another painful tug. This Kid would be his downfall if he continued like that!

"Oh, Reid! I'm sorry. I didn't know… I mean you said you'd answer him but I didn't know you invited him."

"I'm so _stupid_!" – The young man spat, voice full of hatred directed at himself. – "Why did I think he'd care? He left me without a goodbye and I didn't know about him for months! After that how could I believe that just because he wrote one letter; one _lousy_ letter, mind you; anything could have changed!? WHY!?"

The senior profiler watched the young man he'd come to consider a son beat himself up about something that definitely wasn't his fault, and he silently cursed his oldest friend yet again. If such a thing as voodoo existed, Jason Gideon would scream in pain by now from all the times each BAU member had condemned him for hurting their youngest the way he had. And every time they'd thought he was over it finally, it turned out to have been false hope.

Rossi sighed sadly.

"No, Kiddo, it's not your fault. He wrote to you and you had a reason to believe he wanted to get in touch."

"No, he just wanted to get _me_ again. He brought me here when he needed me here. Now, he needs me somewhere else. If I don't go; and I wrote him I wouldn't; he doesn't care anymore. Some genius and profiler I am to only now realize this." – The other man doubted it was this simple, though he could understand why Reid would feel that way. – "I'm pathetic and I certainly don't deserve a medal for that. Maybe I should be fired instead, since I'm evidently incapable to notice the most obvious things about a person." – The boy finished, pretending to be nonchalant about the whole thing, but failing miserably.

"Reid, let me tell you something about Jason you might not know. When his son, Stephen, was born, he was overjoyed; I know it's hard to imagine but believe me, he was like a little boy in the candy store. He loved his son and wife more than anything in life and he wanted the best for them. As a matter of fact, the whole idea of the BAU came because we wanted our families to live in a safer world. So, we worked. A lot. And while we worked, our wives left us, saying we were never at home with them. Does it sound familiar?"

"Yeah… Isn't that why Haley left Hotch?"

"Exactly. We all seem to fall into the same mistake. Anyway, his wife left, taking Stephen with her, just like Haley took Jack. But while Haley, now anyways, lets Aaron see his son whenever he wants to, Barbara didn't really want them to be in touch at all and did everything to alienate their son from his father."

The genius gasped.

"But why would she do that!?" – He asked horrified.

"According to her, it upset Stephen if the visitations weren't regular and preset."

Reid rolled his eyes.

"Let me guess: regular and preset isn't exactly compatible with our work schedule, and I bet it wasn't any different back then either."

"Bingo, Kiddo. He had every second weekend from 10:00 AM Saturday to 6:00 PM Sunday and the second half of the holidays. Whenever we were away on a case, he was sick or really if _anything_ happened, and he couldn't make it on time, he lost the whole visitation right for that particular period and there was no way of compensating it at all. Even if he was just half an hour late, he was sent away with 'come back when your son has priority'."

The young profiler was visibly mortified.

"But that's a scandal! He should have gone to court!"

The older man nodded, arm still absent-mindedly draped around the youngster as they sat on the floor.

"Yes and he thought about it. I urged him to do so but by that time, Stephen was nine years old and quite difficult to handle. Thanks to Barbara's persistent intrigue, he mostly didn't even want to hear about his father. In the end, Jason had to admit it wouldn't do either of them any good if he fought and the court obligated his ex-wife to send their son more often; it would only have fueled the boy's mistrust and anger towards a father who 'hurt' his mother."

"So, he didn't do anything? Gideon just gave up!?" – Reid couldn't understand how his once greatest hero could ever have been so weak.

The senior profiler sighed. He had a good idea what the young man was thinking and knew he was trying to explain to him something he couldn't really understand. Not yet, anyway. He was simply too young and innocent, despite everything he had seen.

"Yes, he did. But Kiddo: things were different for him then. He wasn't 'The Jason Gideon, almighty profiler' yet, just a young, overworked agent trying to make something new within the FBI with his best friend. When he wasn't working, he was trying to build some kind of relationship with a son who looked at him as if he were a stranger. He said, the only thing he could do at that stage was to send as much money for his son's education and extracurricular activities as possible, to make sure he had everything he needed and to be there, should he want to talk one day…"

"And did Stephen want to? Talk, I mean."

"No. Not that I know of, at least but I must admit, I haven't talked to Jason for a very long time. I don't even know why…"

The boy shook his head.

"I still say he shouldn't have let it go so easily. You have to fight for your rights!"

"You'd think so. You're young and optimistic. Just promise me something: always stay that way." – Smiled the older agent. – "You know what I talked with Jason about the last time he called me?"

"No… What?"

"You."

" _Me_?" – The young man asked incredulously. – "Why would he talk to you about me when you hadn't even met me at that time?"

"Yes: you. I guess he had just encountered you at Caltech back then. He was fascinated and so excited! He told me he had never seen anyone like you before and that you would be the greatest agent one day. And he'd help you."

"He had helped meg. Before he left for good…"

Rossi thought about how he could speak his mind without making the youngster think he wasn't on his side and without breaking the promise he had given Hotch; namely never to tell anyone what the two of them had talked about a few months ago…

"Kiddo, come on: when he thought his son was better off without him, what did he do?"

"He let him be taken away." – Reid stated, still angry at the man and especially his ex-wife. He had never met Barbara Gideon but he sure as hell didn't want to change that.

"Yes. And then why do you think he left you? You, who are like a son to him as well?"

The boy suddenly looked up into the eyes of his mentor in alarmed as he stuttered.

"What? But… You mean…? What do you mean? Because it can't be, it doesn't make any sense! Why would he think it's for my own good that he left!? It's _crazy_!"

"Is it? Don't think with _your_ genius mind, Reid, think with Jason's."

"And how do I do that?"

"Well, what happened before he left?"

"His girlfriend was killed."

"Yes, that too, and it had undoubtedly a great part of his feeling completely hopeless. But wasn't there something else…? Something that might weight heavily on his mind?"

"Look, if you mean my being tortured-"

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean."

"Then you're wrong. He didn't even care enough to try to help me afterwards."

Rossi sighed.

"Kiddo… Just think about it a bit, okay? But now I think we have to go. You don't really want to miss the ceremony, do you? I mean, lots of people will be there just because of you."

"Yeah, whatever." – The boy shrugged, and got up from the floor.

Rossi groaned in pain as he started to do the same.

"A little help here… I'm not as fit as I used to be…"

"Maybe you should train with Dean and the others too." – Laughed the boy, grabbing the senior profiler's hand and pulling him upright with ease.

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

Meanwhile, inside the bus the atmosphere was rather tense while they waited for the two missing profilers to make an appearance. Luckily, as they had needed quite a spacious vehicle to transfer all of them at once, the FBI had provided them with the most luxurious one they had. Given this fact, there was plenty of space for everyone and thus, there shouldn't have been any animosity between the two groups. Normally. This wasn't a normal situation though…

"So… You are the members of the Organized Crime Unit who took two of our teammates without asking us for permission first or keeping in touch with our unit chief for updates." – Morgan's statement was biting and full of venom. – "Who thought it was a great idea to keep us in dark about the whereabouts and state of our people."

The five men narrowed their eyes dangerously.

"We are good friends of David and Spencer's." – Answered Ian calmly, although it was evident he didn't appreciate the tone in which they had been spoken to. – "We didn't mean them any harm."

" _Friends_. Yeah… Some friends you are!"

"Morgan!" – Commanded Hotch, effectively silencing his subordinate with a meaningful stare. Not that it stopped the dark-skinned man from throwing death glares at the other team. – "My apologies." – He said to the five men, even though he didn't try very hard to disguise his own feelings about the matter.

"It's fine." – Simon answered simply, turning to Prentiss. – "It's good to see you again, Emily. How long had it been…?"

"Not long enough. And I wish I could say the same about missing you lot." – The raven-haired woman answered coldly. – "But alas, I'd rather we didn't have to meet again. Especially not after you took our teammates!"

Walker sighed.

"You all forget that we have our orders too. Our unit chief, Supervisory Special Agent Jasper Collins-"

"Who's a jerk!" – Blurted Morgan and even JJ and Garcia gasped. It was one thing to be cross with the group for taking their friends on temporary duty, but to so bluntly disrespect a unit chief!? That could cost the agent his job! Derek probably realized his mistake too, as he bit his tongue and looked closer to being horrified than ever before in his career.

Hotch was obviously trying to think of something to say to save the situation but came up completely blank.

Marshall growled dangerously.

"We'll pretend we didn't hear that. But if you ever say anything remotely similar to that, Agent Morgan, I swear-"

Ian interrupted his friend to stop the tirade of threats he knew would be coming otherwise.

"Let's not forget who this day is supposed to be about, shall we? It's the Genius Boy's celebration and I, for one, want to honor him by not throwing insults at each other. For him, we're all family."

JJ looked grim at the thought of these people being family to her Spence but everyone else had the decency to nod and even look somewhat sheepish.

"Yeah. It's enough that he's been having nightmares about today for days." – Agreed Simon reluctantly.

"And just how do you know that?" – Asked Emily, rolling her eyes. – "I think we know him way better than you do, and we haven't noticed any problems with him."

Dean snorted.

"Well. Since we aren't profilers to just _see_ things, guess what we did? _We talked to him_!"

"Oh, yeah: and he told you something he didn't tell us, right?" – Mocked Morgan, having already forgotten his previous determination to be quiet.

Marshall nodded.

"He did."

"Yeah, sure…"

"Morgan!"

"Sorry, Hotch, but you have to admit-"

At that moment, Rossi and Reid appeared at the bus, walking up the stairs.

"Hello, everyone, Sorry for keeping you. Junior here couldn't find his plain black socks anywhere…" – Grinned the senior profiler, pointedly ignoring the clear uneasiness in the air. – "I won't go as far as to assume they had been deliberately hidden…"

"Why do I have to wear matching socks? As if the suit weren't bad enough…"

"Because you'll be standing on a stage and everyone would see the unique patterns you seem to prefer…"

"So? What's wrong with that?" – Not waiting for an answer, the boy looked around, trying to decide where to sit, noticing that the two teams sat as far away from each other as possible within the limited possibilities the vehicle had to offer. In the end, he shrugged and took a place right in the middle, between the two groups, looking for all the world like an impartial judge by court.

To everyone's immense relief, there wasn't any argument during the almost hour-long ride to D.C.

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Standing on the stage as second in the line of agents to be awarded that day was almost more than Reid could bear. He wished he were anywhere but there, in front of hundredths of people watching, of cameras flashing and reporters writing frantically… The only thing that gave him some strength to not run away screaming was the fact that his entire honorary family was sitting there as well, cheering for him and genuinely proud.

Well, nearly the entire honorary family, that is…

 _We have gathered here today to express our immense gratitude towards these agents who…_

As the director went on and on about the three agents' heroic deeds that had allowed this day to happen, the youngest profiler's thought turned towards his absent father figure instead. What Rossi had said made him think. Was it possible that the man blamed himself for what had happened with Hankel and his three personalities, and this had been part of the reason for his leaving? But if so, why hadn't he talked about it before making the drastic decision of running away?

And there was something else as well… If this was really true then there was a good chance Hotch at least knew about it. So why hadn't he said something? Questions and questions, all without answers; this could make one's head hurt for sure.

 _So, Ladies and Gentlemen, in light of all these happenings, it is my greatest pleasure to present…_

The first agent just took his Medal and Reid tried to turn his attention back to the current event, not wanting to face the embarrassment of not hearing his own name being called or something. But then… one of the doors in the back of the auditorium opened with a low squeak; and there was some movement among the people standing there… Someone just stepped inside and was quietly asking for forgiveness as he (for by now it was evident it was a man) made his way towards the front rows, stopping right next to where the BAU members were seated, looking at him with wide, proud eyes. His teammates' attention was focused solely on the stage, so they didn't realize who was standing next to them, but Reid, having watched the whole proceeding, had to work hard not to let his jaw drop in surprise.

For the newcomer was none other than Jason Gideon himself.

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Reid couldn't wait for the ceremony to be over. Honestly: who cared about a Medal when Gideon was standing only a few meters away from him after he hadn't seen the man for _months_!? Typically though, the director felt the need to talk and talk and when he was done with that, then talk some more… The genius felt the Hotch in particular should be very satisfied with him now, given that the man had been a bit worried about how his young subordinate would react when the director would offer him his hand to shake. With all the excitement of seeing Gideon in the audience, Reid had forgotten his aversion to being touched and accomplished this part of the ceremony with ease. In the end, it took over an hour to be allowed to leave the stage. The other two awarded agents remained, proudly accepting congratulations while still standing on the podium and posing for a couple of more photos. The genius, on the other hand, couldn't escape fast enough. As soon as the director had said his goodbye and retreated, the youngest agent literally flew down the three steps separating him from his – now complete – FBI family.

However, when he finally found himself face to face with his long-lost father figure, he found he was totally speechless, unable to articulate any of the feelings chasing each other in his mind. And this was saying a lot; he usually had no problem talking about nothing and everything at the same time...

"Spencer." – Gideon said, clearly a bit uncomfortable himself, especially having the whole BAU and five strangers looking at him like he had just killed a newborn kitten. – "Look at you. I'm so happy to see you. I'm proud of you, son."

That was all it took for the genius to lose control. Ignoring Morgan's indignant 'Son!? You must be kidding!' and JJ crossing her arms angrily, he jumped into the man's arms and hugged him tightly, as if he never wanted to let go.

He whispered into Gideon's ear:

"It wasn't your fault. I don't blame you. Never did. Please, don't disappear again!"

"I'm so sorry for leaving the way I did. I won't disappear this time, I swear. We'll work something out." – He promised just as softly.

There would be time for more talking later; right now, this was more than enough for Reid. It was funny, actually: as a child, he hadn't had a father at all. Now that he was an adult, he had two. And this circumstance didn't appear to be a problem in the least, especially seeing the two men embrace each other like you would a lost and found brother.

Next, Hotch shook Gideon's hand happily, not looking resentful even though the genius had expected him to be just a tiny bit, like the others. JJ and Garcia were much more reserved as they shook their ex-teammate's hand, while Emily was totally unaffected, like usually. Morgan, on the other hand, made up for her lack of negative reaction by nearly crushing Gideon's hand in fury.

The angry agent quickly left the company of the subject of his annoyance, and stepped to Reid to congratulate him instead.

"Not bad, Kid. It's lucky they didn't see you shooting." – He winked cheekily, referring to the boy's initial problems with his qualification.

The genius laughed.

"As a matter of fact, Derek, I already got a 'rifle expert' certificate."

"Sure, Kid."

"He really does." – Confirmed Walker proudly. – "Our little Genius Boy has many surprises up his sleeve."

Morgan still looked unconvinced, so Reid got the perfect idea how to show him in a way his 'big brother' would certainly never forget.

"Why don't you take me on in target shooting when we get back home? We have the day off anyway."

"Kid, are you sure you want that kind of embarrassment? Especially on a day like this, when it should be all about your glory."

The boy smirked evilly.

"Oh, yes. I'm sure."

"Fine. Just don't forget: you asked for it!"

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As soon as they arrived back at Quantico (Gideon having followed the bus with his car), the entire group accompanied them to the shooting range to watch the competition. Garcia filmed it while JJ and Emily took pictures.

It didn't take long for everyone to realize, their youngest didn't only hold his own against his opponent, but beat the more experienced man easily as well. The BAU team – including Morgan himself – was totally baffled and couldn't believe their own eyes. Except for Rossi of course, who – along with the five members of the Organized Crime Unit – smirked, having suspected already that this would happen.

"I… how is this possible?" – Asked JJ. – "I thought you needed tutoring even for your regular qualification…"

"That was before." – Shrugged the genius, putting the weapon down, and doing his best not to look too smug.

"Before what?" – Inquired Emily. – "A mysterious improvement like that would come in handy for everyone."

"There's nothing mysterious about it." – Laughed Marshall. – "We've been working with him ever since the boot camp. And, being a genius and all, he's a great student." – He admitted.

"What boot camp?" – Asked Gideon and Hotch together.

"Nothing…"

"It's top secret."

Ignoring the questioning glances, the OCU members patted the boy's back in acknowledgment of his success, and Rossi invited everyone for a cake to the nearby confectionary that sold Italian desserts to celebrate.


	2. Happy Birthday, Doctor Reid!

**Happy Birthday, Doctor Reid!**

A year and a half had gone by very quickly since the genius had gotten his Medal of Valor from the director and reconnected with his old mentor, Jason Gideon, with whom he had been in constant contact ever since.

Now, the still youngest supervisory special agent had a very meaningful day: he was turning 23; the age that was officially the minimum for becoming a special agent in the FBI. So, while he was still the youngest in the BAU (and, unofficially, in the Organized Crime Unit as well) – and would be for a very long time to come – he, at least, wasn't under the age requirement to even enter the building anymore. Just thinking about how the security guards wouldn't be able to tease him every day in the future, made his step lighter and his mood brighter as the young man entered the Headquarters in Quantico that morning, flashing a cheeky smile at today's guard who tried to block his way in his usual manner.

"Morning, Drake. It's a wonderful day, isn't it?" – He said, causing the man to come to a halt mid-step, wondering at the boy's cheerful greeting so much, he even forgot the customary 'show me your badge to prove you have permission to enter' and just watched in awe as the youth sidestepped him easily and disappeared inside.

"Hi, everyone!" – He greeted the Organized Crime Unit members as he arrived at the bottom of the stairs in the 'secret' dungeon, deep under the building. It had become his habit to come here first thing in the morning to speak a few words with his new family members before going up to the bullpen to begin his work.

"Oh, Genius Boy! Happy birthday!" – Exclaimed a woman called Stacey. By now, everyone knew him and all were used to his presence. Even SSA Collins didn't seem to mind his frequent visits; as a matter of fact: he liked to make use of the genius' knowledge and ask him for his expert opinion in their ongoing cases. Reid was always happy to oblige, of course.

He waved at every passing person, before coming to a halt in front of Dean's desk. The man seemed to be deep in thought and obviously hadn't even noticed his guest as he was bent over a paper, staring at it intently. At a closer look, the youngest profiler realized with a grin that his friend was working on a Sudoku puzzle, and quite obviously not getting anywhere with it.

"5, 3, 1, 9, 6, 5…" – He said, pointing at the respective empty spaces.

"Aaaaa!" – The man jumped in surprise. – "God, Genius Boy, you nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"Sorry." – Shrugged Reid, not particularly bothered. – "So, is that what you do when Collins thinks you're working?"

"I still have 15 minutes 'till 8." – Smiled Dean, getting up and opening his arms for a hug. – "Come here, birthday boy!"

Soon, Ian, Walker, Marshall and Simon all joined them as well, congratulation him for reaching another milestone in his life.

"Thanks, guys. Listen, I've come to invite you to my surprise birthday party on Saturday."

Ian chuckled.

"Some surprise it is if you're inviting us."

"Yeah, well… Hotch and Rossi know what I'm like so they warned me in advance… Anyway, it will be held at Rossi's so there'll be lots of Italian food."

"Then we'll definitely go!"

"I hope he'll use the cookbook we gave him… I'm dying to try those meatballs with pasta…" – Said Simon with a dreamy expression, most probably already envisioning a huge pot full of the senior profiler's delicious meal. The OCU members still hadn't been able to come to terms with the fact that the older man couldn't cook them every day since their undercover assignment had ended.

"I'll be sure to tell him that. Arrive at Rossi's around 3 in the afternoon, all right?

"Sure. Can't wait. Hopefully, none of us gets called out…"

"Nope, it can't happen."

"Why not?"

"Because I said so. And I also sort of already talked to Collins and he agreed to make sure you'll be free."

"Wow, Genius Boy…" – Marveled Marshall. – "You have managed what none before you…"

"Yeah." – Nodded Walker in agreement. – "You have become Jasper's favorite."

Ian crossed his arms in mild exasperation.

"Normally, I'd say it's unfair…"

"But…" – Continued Ian with a wink. – "… it's beneficial for us too, so we won't complain."

"Too much." – Muttered Dean, pushing the Sudoku to the side and grabbing a casefile just in time not to get caught solving puzzles in work hours by the unit chief himself who passed right next to them at that very moment.

"Happy birthday, Spencer." – The strict-looking man said, presenting the boy with a rare smile, causing every agent in the vicinity to gape in surprise and clumsily drop whatever they had been holding.

"Thank you, sir."

Ian rolled his eyes.

"Correction: we _are_ complaining."

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

Saturday had finally arrived and Morgan, Garcia, Emily and JJ had been decorating in Rossi's house since midday, while the host himself had been busy in the kitchen with making various sandwiches, desserts, an enormous chocolate cake and even meatballs with pasta for the always hungry OCU members.

In the meantime, Hotch had driven to the airport to pick up the surprise guests of the day and to meet with Gideon, who would also join them on the way to Rossi's. They might have warned the boy about the upcoming party so as not to have him drop dead when they all shouted 'surprise' but that didn't mean they had to tell him _every_ little detail.

The five Organized Crime Unit members had volunteered to bring the candles, marzipan figurines and cake fireworks and were currently working on decorating the cake using these, being incredibly careful, as Rossi had threatened to only feed them with dried bread and water they damaged his masterpiece in any way.

The two teams had come to a silent understanding during these past months and while they still couldn't even remotely be called friendly with each other, they had no problem attending a party together for their favorite genius without any incidents anymore. JJ, Garcia and Hotch had even come to respect the men to some extent, and it was evidently mutual. Morgan still growled sometimes when he saw how close his 'little brother' had gotten to them but most of the time, he managed to overlook this annoying detail and even have civil conversations with the agents of the other unit. It was only Emily who didn't seem to be able to get used to her old teammates' presence at all, always looking very grim when they were nearby, as if she had just bitten in an incredibly bitter lemon. Nobody really understood her uncharacteristic hostility, but JJ and Garcia had agreed to make sure to always keep her distracted and well away from the five men, so that there wasn't any problem with that either.

Just a few minutes after Hotch and the three more guests had arrived, they heard Reid stop the car in front of the house.

"Just in time!" – Declared the unit chief in a way that suggested he hadn't been sure they would make it. – "Come on, guys. Let's wait for him in the kitchen."

They quickly filed into the thankfully big enough place to hide and waited with their breaths held back in anticipation for their youngest to come in. And waited, and waited and waited some more…

"Where is he? What is he doing still outside?" – Whispered Morgan, looking at the others to see if anyone knew what could hold the genius.

"I don't know but my knees are beginning to hurt…" – Complained JJ who was crouched behind the counter, just out of sight if the youngster finally decided to grace them with his presence.

"Ouch! Somebody stepped on my hand!" – Yelped Emily suddenly, jumping up into a standing position, blowing at her hurting limb and shaking it to get rid of the pain. – "Who was it!?"

"Ahm… I guess it could have been me? Sorry for that…" – Admitted Ian sheepishly, cheeks coloring a bit. – "I really didn't mean to, honestly!"

"Yeah, of course, O'Connell! As if I'd ever believe it…"

"You can't really think I'd do that on purpose!? Why would I!?"

"Who knows with you!? You've always bee-"

Exactly at that moment the birthday boy opened the door and stepped into the house just to see Emily and Ian glaring daggers at each other, JJ wincing in pain and rubbing her knees, Morgan laughing uncontrollably at the two arguing agents, Hotch and Rossi trying to calm everyone down and all the others looking on in horror.

He stopped dead in his tracks, watching the scene unfolding in front of him with growing amusement.

"Ahm… Well. Happy birthday, Spencer! Surprise!" – Squeaked Robbie, wanting to save the situation.

He only caused the boy to burst out in giggles.

"Hehehe, it's a surprise indeed! Well, hello to you all!" – He said when he could breathe again and went to join the blushing members of his family. – "Wow, Robbie and Sydney! It's so good to see you guys again! I thought we wouldn't meet until our scheduled visit next month!"

"David invited us and we couldn't say no to that!" – Explained the now twenty-year-old college girl, hugging her friend tightly. – "What does it feel like to be this old?"

"Old!? I think some people here might argue with that!"

"Ooops. Sorry, everyone!"

Simon patted her on the back.

"It's fine. It's old when it's _him_. Young when it's us." – He declared as if this were the most logical statement ever.

"I guess we can all agree his mind is at least two hundred years old!" – Chuckled Dean.

"Just two hundred? How could you possibly gain so much information in that time? I'd say: two thousand!" – Argued Marshall.

Reid ignored them in favor for greeting the others.

"Gideon! I'm so happy to see you again!"

"Of course, son. I wouldn't have missed this for anything. You have rather interesting friends, I must say."

"I hope they've been behaving well?" – He asked with mischievous sparks in his eyes.

"Oh… well. They haven't been that bad. At least, I assume they can be worse."

"Good. I'd hate to have to scold them on my birthday."

"We're so sorry, Spence. We wanted to surprise you…"

"Come on, JJ! It's perfect as it is! Thank you all for coming."

"Actually, we only came because of the food." – Teased Morgan before pulling the boy into a hug. – "Happy birthday, Kid."

"Thanks. You know, you won't be able to call me Kid for long anymore…"

"You believe so? Think again!"

"Ah, don't tease that poor boy, Derek! Come here, Sweet Cheeks!"

They were still saying congratulations when there was a tentative knock at the still open door.

"Sorry for being late…"

Everyone turned towards the newcomer and several people gasped. Reid squealed in delight and ran to meet the new guest.

"Elle! Oh, my God! We haven't heard of you for ages and ages and… And I tried to write to you and call you but you never answered… And-"

"Reid: breathe. I know you tried to reach me and I'm sorry for not answering… I needed to build up my life again. And I couldn't exactly reveal where I was…" – She looked at Hotch questioningly, as if waiting for the handcuffs to appear, but the unit chief just smiled.

"It's good to see you again, Elle." – He said, shaking her hand.

The genius was still curious.

"How did you know about this?" – He asked, motioning around.

"Well, a certain "Penny" hacked into the Facebook account I use with a _fake name and no pictures_ I might add to leave a message…"

"I won't say I'm sorry, because I'm not!" – Declared the blond-haired computer analyst without missing a beat. – "I missed you too, you know."

Rossi clapped his hands.

"So, now that everyone is here: who's hungry?"

At least five people shouted excitedly as they scattered around to help set the table.

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

"Sydney, do you still like college?" – Asked Robbie, turning to the girl. – "I was thinking about maybe applying for university too…" – He said blushing. He was in his last year at high school and he had to start thinking about his future now.

"Wow, really? That's great!" – Smiled Reid. – "I though you wanted to concentrate on your music after graduation?"

"Well, I guess I came to hope these two things can work well together."

"Absolutely. I'm glad for you!"

The girl nodded.

"It's a super decision. I love the college!" – She had just started her second year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison studying French and Spanish. She always said, having Reid helping her with the language had inspired her to want to know it even better than the level the high school had had to offer. Her plan was to teach children one day, in a way that would not make them hate languages. – "It's the first time I really feel like an adult. Even though I still live at home, I am completely independent and free to do anything I wish."

"I would like to go as far away from Madison as possible." – Admitted the boy. – "I was thinking about Georgetown… I know I'll have do to very good for that but I'll try my best."

The genius, having finished the delicious pasta with meatballs, put down the fork and knife, reaching for his cup.

"Gideon teaches at Georgetown." – He said absent-mindedly while sipping the water.

Robbie perked up.

"Really? And what?"

"Several things… Philosophy, Sociology and Criminology. And Rossi and I give guest lectures as-"

"NO WAY!? You teach at a university? Come on, is that even possible?"

"Why wouldn't it be? Rossi teaches Creative Writing and Literature, and I lecture Criminology and Linguistics."

"WOW!"

"So, Robbie: what would you like to study?"

"Well, I saw there are courses like American Musical Culture and Art History… These are the things that I find the most interesting."

"Then I'll say: go for it. And if you need help, don't forget you have friends there!"

"That's so cool! Thank you!"

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

" _Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday our dear Spencer, happy birthday to you!"_

Loud clapping followed the song as Robbie played it again on Rossi's piano in the background.

"Come on, Pretty Boy: blow out those candles before the cake will be fully covered in wax!"

"Those aren't trick candles again, are they?" – Reid asked with some uncertainty, remembering all his previous birthdays' fiascos since he'd joined the BAU vividly.

JJ feigned being offended.

"Would we do that to you, Spence?" – She asked mock-horrified.

"Yes, you would."

"But _we_ wouldn't!" – Laughed Ian.

"Actually, we just didn't think about it." – Admitted Walker shrugging.

"Yeah: and why not? We're so stupid; we had a blast with it last year." – Whined Marshall.

"Anyway: we brought the candles and they're just normal ones, so: blow them out already!" – Urged him Simon.

"I can't promise the same about the fireworks though…" – Added Dean with just a bit of warning in his voice.

Throwing a dirty look at his friend, Reid did as he had been told. The candles did indeed work the way they were supposed to and the fireworks really turned out to be more difficult. In the end, they simply had to wait for them to stop from themselves, all the while listening to Morgan and Dean complain how they'd die looking at a cake not being able to eat it. Of course, they'd find an understanding when it was about food…

"So, first slice for the birthday boy!" – Announced Rossi finally, as he handed Reid an enormous piece of the chocolate wonder. It looked incredibly appetizing.

Morgan waved his plate in front of the senior profiler's face, closely followed by Dean.

"But the next one is for me, I hope?"

"And ME!"

Rossi rolled his eyes but obeyed, thinking it would be better than to listen to the men's whining if he didn't.

Reid, still holding his smiley face paper birthday plate and his plastic fork, took place next to Elle.

"Hi. How are you? Tell me about yourself!" – He asked.

"Ahm, well." – The ex-profiler seemed to hesitate only for a moment, before she apparently decided her friend had a right to know. – "I live in New Mexico and I work for the police department there." – She said.

"Oh, I remember when we were there, you really liked working with them."

"That's right. And I like speaking Spanish."

"Yep. And I still say 'la casa del perro' is completely correct." – He grinned. – "Even in Me _X_ ico." – She just laughed and shook her head fondly, thinking that nothing had really changed about that young man. He may be older and maybe a bit more mature but his childish delight in the smallest things hadn't been lost. Thankfully. She hoped he'd remain like that for a very long time to come.

"So, how's the cake?" – She asked.

"Devine! Try it!"

"I think I will. I'll be back soon."

As soon as she returned to her place with a slice of cake of her own, the genius continued his line of questioning.

"And do you live alone?"

"No. I have a boyfriend: Marco. We're getting married next year."

"Wow! Congratulations!"

"Thank you."

"I'm happy for you, Elle, really. I know you always wanted a family."

"And I was always afraid I wouldn't have one, living the way we did…" – She admitted with a sigh. – "Tell me, Reid: what about you? Do you really want to continue working crazy hours, spending nearly every day somewhere else… Are you happy like this?"

The young man contemplated the question for a while, giving it serious thought. When he reached a conclusion, he said with confidence:

"Yes, I am. Gideon offered me an other option over a year ago, but I didn't take it. Well, I did, but only partially. I guest lecture at Georgetown but I didn't leave the BAU like he wanted me to."

"And why?"

"Because I like it here. I don't really advertise it but I always have lots of offers: other universities want to have me for research and teaching too. They also want me to write more; I publish studies every once in a while but the papers would like to have more. I don't really know why they all seem to think I'm suited for that academic career but well… _I_ don't think I am. The only requests I'd ever consider taking are those from CIA, NSA and NASA and only if the FBI wouldn't work anymore for any reason. Until them, I'm here to stay."

"Wow! Don't tell me even those want you?"

The boy rolled his eyes dramatically.

"I could cover the wall of my entire apartment with all the letters I've gotten from them just this year." – He said. – "It's ridiculous, really, I don't even answer them anymore; I wouldn't be doing anything else. And Hotch wonders why I don't want an official e-mail address…"

"Oh, you still refuse modern technology?"

"I sadly need to have e-mail to keep in touch with those two…" – He sighed, motioning towards Robbie and Sydney who were currently chatting animatedly with an unusually patient and attentive Gideon, probably about Georgetown. – "… but I would even forget about checking my account if Rossi wouldn't remind me frequently."

"So… This girl. What's her name again?"

"Sydney."

"Yes, her. What's up with you two?"

"I don't really know what you mean, Elle…"

"Oh, you don't? I mean: you and her? _Together_?" – She looked like a gossiping schoolgirl sharing the newest information with her best friends in the restroom in between classes. It was quite honestly very frightening.

And pretending not to understand what she meant wasn't an option anymore.

"I don't know…?" – He tried.

"You. Don't. Know?" – She asked in disbelief. – "How can you not know?"

She wasn't going to let it go, was she…? Damn.

"Elle, she goes to college in Madison and I work for the FBI in Quantico as well as all over the US. She's 20 and I'm 23. She's just going through the process of growing up and becoming independent from her family while still living with them… I, on the other hand, have been an adult ever since I can remember and I don't even have a family to speak of… And we only meet every second month for half a day or so. So no, I'd say I'm pretty sure we're not meant to be together."

"Come on, Reid, this is stupid! You're way smarter than that!" – He looked at her with a confused expression, so she explained further. – "20 and 23 is totally normal. Her being at college and your working: again, normal. And you can't pause your life just because you have a demanding job! Don't make the same mistake I did. And some people…" – She nodded in the general direction of the BAU members. – "… may still be making. You're too young for that."

"Okay, okay. We'll see."

"When?"

"Excuse me?"

"When will you see? She won't wait for you forever, you know."

"Ahm…"

"Just promise me to think about it."

What else could he do? As a matter of fact, he wouldn't be able to _not_ think about it now…

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

"Thank you, Rossi. This was the best birthday party EVER!"

"And again: you're welcome, Kiddo!"

The boy hadn't been able to stop saying thanks ever since the last guests had left and they had remained alone in the house. He had also wanted to help clean up after them but the senior profiler had strictly refused to let him, claiming the birthday boy wasn't allowed to work before, at or after his own party. "Rossi's Family Rule Number 12.", he had said.

"But I really, really, really thank you…"

The older man laughed.

"And you're _really, really, really_ welcome."

"I mean it! I-"

"Kiddo, don't you want to open your last present?"

"My last present? I thought I had opened them all!" – He really had thought so, as he had counted ten books, Broadway theater tickets to two different musicals, two board games, three puzzle collection books and several colorful socks. He couldn't be more satisfied with them all and had almost cried in happiness when he had gotten each.

"Yes, your last present. It's in the envelope on the table…"

"Oh!" – The genius quickly found the gift and slowly opened it. Inside he found-

"Plane tickets to London? Train tickets to Paris and plane tickets back from Paris…?" – His eyes, huge as saucers, searched the older man's smiling face. – "Is this for real…?"

"Yes, Kiddo. I know you've never been outside the US and you've also never been anywhere just for fun. And no, sightseeing in the cities for half a day after solving a gruesome crime doesn't count." – He quickly added, seeing the boy open his mouth to protest. – "So, I thought we should go and see the world. What do you think?"

"I… wow! I can't believe it! London and Paris… I've always wanted to visit them! But… Rossi… these must have costs you a fortune… and the hotels too…" – He said, leafing through the papers he had found. – "And you've included pounds and euros!"

"You know money is not a matter for me. I want to see you happy. And also: I've wanted to travel to these cities for ages. Luckily, I have a good excuse to do so now." – He winked. – "So?"

"I CAN'T WAIT!" – With that, the boy jumped into the man's arms, nearly knocking the older profiler over.

"Woa, careful, Kiddo. Don't forget you've become stronger lately!"

"So you can see my muscles now?"

"Ahm… Why don't you go and take a bath while I finish up here? Then we can watch anything you want."

The genius smiled innocently.

"Even Star Trek?"

Rossi groaned.

"I knew I shouldn't have worded it like that…"

"Too late!"

The boy all but ran into his room to get his pajamas because yes: he had an own room at this house now. This was more of a home than anything he'd had before.


	3. The Kidnapping

**The Kidnapping**

Reid had been floating inches above the ground ever since his birthday last week; then there had been Halloween after that he had also celebrated with Garcia, Morgan and – surprisingly – Dean. He LOVED his entire family, he LOVED his friends and he LOVED his presents. And he couldn't wait to travel to Europe towards the end of the month. Only two more weeks left…

Some would say November wasn't the best time for traveling but he had always preferred autumn to summer. The beautiful colorful trees, the calmer environment (less tourists everywhere than during the typical holiday times) and the persistent sunshine still fighting its way through the gathering clouds were all calling to him, nudging at his mind constantly, occupying his thoughts.

He had already packed and repacked his luggage several times – for the first time ever he wouldn't be traveling with a go bag containing only the bare necessities –, trying to fit all his new socks and books into it up until the point where he couldn't put in shoes at all.

"I'll have one pair on my feet, so why does it matter?" – He had asked when Rossi had pointed this small fact out.

"Kiddo, we'll be gone for two weeks and we'll walk a lot. We might even get drenched in rain, God forbid early snow, especially in London. Don't you think you might need spare boots just in case?"

"Ahm… No?"

"Try again."

"Well, okay. Then I'll need a bigger baggage."

"No. What you need is to leave those enormous books at home."

The boy had looked absolutely mortified at that suggestion.

"You can't mean it!? Rossi! Why are you laughing!? I can't possible go two weeks without reading!"

"Ever heard of e-book readers? Hmm?" – The senior agent asked, waving the mentioned device in front of his protégé's face.

The mortification only grew.

"No way am I going to dump my BOOKS for… for… that _thing_!"

The older man sighed, willing himself not to lose patience.

"Just for the duration of the travel. You can load hundreds of books in it; it's feather light and also doesn't use up much space. Perfectly convenient for carrying around. We can't take all these books, Kiddo; it's impossible. Besides: even those wouldn't be enough for you for two weeks, you know that very well."

In the end, the genius had begrudgingly agreed to accept the monstrous electronic device when Rossi had given him an ultimatum: either that or nothing. The man was a real sadist…

Now, he was back to being incredibly excited about the upcoming adventure, and couldn't dream or even think about anything else anymore. That circumstance could be blamed for his absent-mindedness, and his not noticing someone creeping up on him while he was waiting for the train early in the morning on Wednesday…

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

"Where is Pretty Boy? He's never late!" – Asked Morgan 10 minutes after eight, having checked his watch three times to make sure he was seeing right. The boy had indeed never ever been late before, not even since he began every day in the 'Batcave', greeting his new friends.

"I hope he's not sick." – Said JJ equally as worried.

"Maybe he's stuck in the dungeons? It would be like O'Connell to hold him…" – Observed Emily, still not trying to hide her feelings about their 'little innocent' Reid's association with those 'monsters'. – "I swear, they have a bad influence on him and they are doing it purposely!"

"Come on, Emily. Why do you hate them so much?" – Asked JJ her friend and colleague. – "They're not half bad, really. And their influence on Spence? If anything, I'd say it's pretty cool: he's working out, he's learnt to shoot. I mean, he even beat Morgan-"

"Hey! It was just because I let him!"

"Yeah, sure, Derek. Whatever you say." – The blond woman rolled her eyes. – "Anyway: what's so bad about this?"

Emily sighed, leaning back in her chair and closing her eyes.

"It's just… I don't know. I didn't really have a good time working with them."

"But what happened? You never told us anything about it." – Inquired Morgan, curious enough to drop to topic of who was the better shot.

"Ah… It's not really their fault, I guess. The work they do… I just don't want Reid to get into that. You think our job is gross and stressful? Think again…"

"But _what_ do they do? They're the Organized Crime Unit. Surely it can't be that more dangerous than what we face daily…"

"But it is, JJ! It is! That's exactly what I'm saying!" – The raven-haired woman jumped up and started to pace, visibly agitated. Garcia, who had just joined them and had no idea what they had been talking about, took a frightened step back at the sight of her. – "The name 'Organized Crime Unit' is just a cover! What they do is completely different. So much more… They do the most demanding undercover jobs! They spend months, if not years, working on cases nobody else wants. One of their groups took down the drug cartel of Milagros and his co in Chicago several years ago! Remember?"

"Oh!" – Morgan exclaimed. – "Of course I remember the case! It was all over the news! But they never said the FBI did it…"

"No, they wouldn't. The publicity Reid received is something that had never happened before. Normally, they're ghosts. Nobody knows about them, they can blend in anywhere. They're never honest; well, at least you can never know when they are."

JJ furrowed her brow.

"Are you saying they might just be playing Spence? Pretending to be friends with him for… what? Why would they do it?"

"They use him! They want him! He would be an asset for any organization, don't you think? With his eidetic memory, and super speed reading…"

"But Prentiss, he's known them for a year and a half already, and they haven't tried to lure him away yet…" – Pointed out Morgan.

The dark-haired woman just rolled her eyes.

"Haven't I told you they work cases for _years_!? They're patient!"

The technical analyst shook her head in denial.

"I think it's not true, Emily. Sorry, but this sounds more like a conspiracy theory than anything else. They seem nice and they care about our Baby Boy. They wouldn't hurt him." – She said but looked somewhat unconvinced and worried.

"Aha… And isn't it curious only Reid would suffer from the press and no one else? Hmmm?"

"I… don't know. I guess he was the one who eventually caught that UnSub…"

"And why? There were seven agents working the case; why was he alone in the end?"

"Come on, Emily. Chill out." – Said Morgan. – "It's crazy. You don't like them, I get it. I'm not a fan of them either. But that they'd want to hurt the Kid? I seriously doubt it."

"But where is he, anyway?" – Asked JJ, happy to change the topic.

"That's a good question…"

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

"Dave, may I come in?" – Asked Hotch, standing in the door to his senior profiler's office.

"Sure, Aaron! Come in. What's up? Do we have a case?"

The unit chief took a seat in front of the older man's desk, looking around the room with a smile on his face. When this very same office had belonged to Jason Gideon, it had been full of photos of victims they had saved. A reminder why they were doing this, the man had said.

Then, when Rossi had joined, he had hung expensive original paintings on the walls and put first edition classics on the shelves. This whole place had looked like a rich grandfather's library where you weren't allowed to touch anything and could only walk on tiptoes so as not to cause damage to the invaluable furniture. Now though? Across the desk, papers were haphazardly scattered everywhere, as if their owner had been looking for something and not finding it. Most of the paintings had disappeared, giving place for framed photos of the entire team on outings like picnics, or the rare time they could relax and enjoy themselves after a case. There was one of Reid with his Medal of Valor too. The elegant leather couch was covered with a fluffy blue blanket, and Hotch knew it was there solely because their youngest teammate got cold very quickly and it was always good to have something at hand to cover him with then.

Their youngest… The reason the unit chief was here right now… Hotch mentally shook himself back into reality and answered the previous question.

"No. It's just that Reid's not here yet and I was wondering if you knew anything about the reason? He's not sick, is he? Or is it something with his mom?"

The senior profiler looked instantly worried.

"No. I don't know anything… He went home in his apartment yesterday after work and we haven't talked ever since…"

"Oh… Well. I'm sure it's nothing…"

"Have you tried calling him?"

"Yes. And Morgan and JJ as well. He didn't pick up."

Rossi felt more and more concerned but tried not to panic as he reached for his cell and tried. The same: it rang and rang but wasn't answered.

"Did you ask the OCU members if he had visited them this morning? Maybe he got caught up helping them…" – He mused, already dialing Walker's number.

 _\- Hi, Dave! What's going on? You all right?_

\- Walker… Is Reid with you?

 _\- Ahm… no… As a matter of fact: he wasn't here this morning, though he usually comes to say hello._

\- Oh.

 _\- He's not there?_

\- No. Nobody knows about him and he doesn't answer his phone.

 _\- We'll be up with you in a second._

"Dave… What happened to that boy?" – Asked Hotch, having listened to the conversation and knowing there was something very wrong.

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

"Garcia, I need you to track Reid's phone." – Shouted Hotch from the catwalk as soon as Rossi and him left the office, as they made their way down the stairs.

"Certainly, sir. Ahm… But he's all right, isn't he?"

"We don't know anything. Garcia, please, just do it."

"Yes, right away."

Just then, the elevator's door opened and six worried men stepped out. They apparently had to squeeze themselves into the small cabin but hadn't wanted to wait for the other one that had been occupied.

"Do you know something?" – Asked Dean without any further ado, not even bothering to greet anyone.

"No, nothing." – Shook his head Rossi.

JJ and Morgan exchanged desperate glances and even Emily didn't express her misgivings about the Organized Crime Unit members' presence. She only threw a killer glare at Collins but the man wasn't even looking at her. He approached Hotch instead.

"Aaron, we'll help with everything we can."

"Thank you, Jasper… Ah, Garcia is coming. I asked her to track Spencer's cell…"

"Sir… I found it. It's at the train station. And… it hasn't moved for a while…"

"Damn." – Cursed Dean.

"Morgan, please go there and look for it… We might know more then." – Said the unit chief but his expression didn't promise any real hope.

Morgan just nodded and – followed wordlessly by Simon – left to look for the cell.

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

Not fifteen minutes later Simon stood by Platform 1, staring at the genius' cell he had just fished out of the trash can. It had obviously not been abandoned willingly by its owner.

\- Hotch? We found it… It had been thrown out…

 _\- And Reid?_

\- No sign of him but…

 _\- Yes?_

\- Ahm… There are some drops of blood here…

 _\- Jesus…_

\- Nobody seems to have seen anything, we asked the employees but… nothing.

 _\- And what about security cameras?_

\- They said some of those haven't been working for ages… Are here only for show. Those that work, all face the other way.

 _\- Damn._

\- Hotch, you realize whoever did this, knew exactly how to remain unnoticed?

 _\- You're saying they might have been following Reid and planning to abduct him for a while?_

\- That's what I assume.

 _\- Come back here, both of you. We need to start the investigation right away._

\- We're on our way.

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

The youngest profiler sluggishly came back to the land of living. The first thing he realized was… a pounding headache that felt like his brain wanted to somehow drill its way out of his skull. He groaned and tried to move. It hurt. Everything hurt.

Ever so slowly, he opened one of his eyes to a slit – then hurriedly squeezed it shut again accompanied by another painful grunt, as the light had just worsened his migraine further.

"Oh, shit!" – He murmured.

"You just said a bad word." – Came a sing-song voice from somewhere too close to him for comfort.

Reid jumped, suddenly wide awake.

"Aaargh! What the hell!?" – He shouted, looking at the creature crouching only inches away from where his face had been just moment before.

"You did it again! Stand in the corner quietly until you can behave yourself, Mister!" – Scolded him an incredibly tiny, elflike girl of about five years of age with her long reddish-brown hair tied into two French braids. Her skin was milky white, and her intense green eyes bore into his very soul from behind her glasses. She was wearing a dark blue dress with white stockings and a red jacket. She looked… adorable. – "And say 'sorry'!" – Scratch this last statement. She was bossy.

"Who are you?" – Asked Reid finally, as soon as he had managed to come to terms with the fact that he had just been reprimanded by someone who only came up to his thighs. If that.

"My mommy said never to reveal my name to strangers." – She declared strictly, crossing her arms to appear more determined. In Reid's opinion though, it only made her seem smaller.

The genius shrugged.

"All right."

"I'm Charlotte like the British Princess of Cambridge but everyone just calls me Charlie." – Oh… The name had French origin and meant 'free woman'. It suited her somehow. Though 'fierce' and perhaps 'feisty' would have been even more fitting.

"I thought you said you weren't not allowed to disclose your name to strangers?"

"But you're not a stranger. You're like me."

Reid smirked amusedly.

"I seriously doubt that, _Lottie_."

"My name's Charlotte or Charlie!"

He shrugged again.

"Whatever."

"And you _are_ like me! You are, you are, you are!" – She insisted, stomping her little feet in annoyance.

The youngest agent in FBI's history fought the urge to cuss again and asked patiently instead:

"And in what aspect do you think I'm like you?"

"Duuuuh! Silly! You're a GENIUS, of course!"

"Ahm… what?"

"Are you really that dense? We. Are. All. Geniuses. Nobody else gets brought here." – She said as if it should make any sense. Well, it didn't.

"What are you talking about, Lottie!? There's nobody else here but the two of us!" – He said, gesturing around the big but bare room that only held him and this little monster and was otherwise completely empty. Contrary to what this… girl seemed to believe, he was a fully trained FBI agent, thank you very much, and had, of course, already assessed the situation within seconds of his waking. They were alone and in no immediate danger, he was sure of it!

"It's Charlotte or Charlie and the others will come back in an hour, twenty-two minutes and three second. Only one second now. Now an hour, twenty-one minutes and-"

"Okay, okay, I get it! Jesus! Just shut up for a moment. I'm trying to think!"

"You're very rude!"

He shot her a condemning glare that finally caused her to fall silent – at least for a while. Not that it served in any other way: she still looked at him as if he were the most disgusting thing she'd ever had the misfortune to encounter. The little beast; she had nerve…

Doctor Spencer Reid, child prodigy, youngest special agent, youngest profiler, youngest… well: _everything_ had absolutely no idea what to do with children. Quite honestly, he'd never even been around them when he himself had been a child, and ever since he'd grown up the only child he'd met was Hotch's son Jack, and that also only once. And it had been more than enough.

Children were noisy, rowdy, they talked and spat and they always became hungry at the worst of times, not to mention they usually needed to pee when there was no restroom anywhere nearby. They were sticky and dirty. Oh, and they cried, whined, demanded and argued. All the time. Everywhere and with everyone. That was his expert opinion based on… well, surely not his excessive experience, he had to admit that. But it was all common knowledge. Yeah, everyone knew these things.

So, what was he to do now? He had this little… girl here to take care of (for he had no doubt this responsibility would somehow end up falling on his shoulders if he wanted to get out of here alive… damn), and possibly even more of them who would come back in exactly an hour, eighteen minutes and forty-nine seconds. Grrrr.

"Lottie, how many others are there?"

"Charlie! And there are twelve others. Six girls and six boys. And with me as a girl and you as a boy now there are-"

"And how old are they?"

"They're really old, like you!"

"I'm _NOT_ old! You mean they're adults?"

"Aha." – She nodded, glad he had finally understood something on his own.

"Good." – One less thing to worry about then. – "And do you happen to know where we are?"

"Nope. Far-far away from home."

"Okay… And do you know who brought us here?"

" _They_ did. The men." – She said, visibly shuddering at the thought of their captors. Reid wondered if she expected him to console her. He hoped not, since he had no idea how he should do that. 'Please, just don't let her start to cry!', he thought.

"What men?"

"The men! The men with the white scrubs. Silly. I already told you."

Okay, did he really think she would be a lost and frightened little girl? He was really stupid…

"And do you know what they're holding us here for?"

"Of course! Everyone knows that! They want to study us." – She said simply.

Scrubs…? Study them…? What the-

"You mean these are scientists running tests on geniuses?"

She beamed, apparently satisfied with his ability to catch up so quickly.

"Yes! We have to do all kinds of tests and tasks and they study the activity of our brains!"

There was only one thing Spencer could think of right now: _'_ Oh, my God… _I can't miss the trip!'_


	4. Find Your Friends, Get to Know Your Enem

**Find Your Friends, Get to Know Your Enemies**

After thirty-four minutes Reid was absolutely sure that leaving him alone with this little menace was a form of torture only matched by the one inflicted on him by Hankel.

After forty-one minutes, the profiler almost wished he could choose Hankel over this.

The small girl had been going on about all the tests they'd been subjected to (all kinds of crosswords, Rubik's Cube, IQ tests and such things… 'nothing overly painful or very embarrassing', she had assured) since she'd come here (he hadn't been able to make out just how long ago it could have been and she hadn't stopped to take a breath yet, so he hadn't been able to ask), the food they were getting (evidently, it was mostly 'gross' and 'not at all nutrient enough for someone her age') and the other hostages (who were all 'annoying', 'full of themselves' and 'sometimes nice').

In the fifty-eighth minute, he was absolutely sure he couldn't resist taking Dilaudid this time if he had some. For one, his head was still pounding painfully and upon reaching up, he could feel a nice bump just above his nape. If he remembered correctly, he'd been hit with a blunt object there, causing him to pass out, giving his kidnappers the opportunity to transport him here… wherever _here_ was.

And – more importantly – Lottie was still talking and not showing any sings of planning to stop anytime soon.

"And Maxie is the friendliest of all and she takes care of me and she said not to be afraid but she always has to work longer and then I'm all alone here and I'm afraid and-"

"Lottie, listen." – He interrupted suddenly. – "How did they take you?"

He instantly regretted his blunt question when he saw her wiping at her eyes furiously and heard her sniffling. Maybe… just maybe he should be more tactful when it came to children as young as her…? He'd have to ask JJ, she'd know what to do.

"I was waiting for my mommy to pick me up after school." – She explained sadly. – "And they grabbed me."

"I'm sorry." – He awkwardly patted her shoulder, praying he wasn't worsening things by asking questions. – "Do you know how long ago it happened?"

"It was exactly eight days, three hours and-"

"Okay, I get it. Just over a week. You don't always have to be so literal." – She glared at him. He sighed. He _was_ making things worse… – "Were the others here already?"

"Some. They always bring new people." – She shrugged, looking towards the door. – "They should be back soon."

Sure enough, not five minutes after her declaration, they could hear the unmistakable noise of a crowd getting nearer and nearer. Soon, the door opened and the other hostages filed in. There were, indeed, six boys and six girls. The little child's earlier statement that they were all 'old' was a bit ill-founded: they were, in fact, all much older than her, but some of them still seemed to be teenagers nonetheless. Of course, you couldn't expect a five-year-old to tell the difference between 'old' and 'older'. To her, they probably all seemed to be ancient…

A girl of about his own age walked up to them with confidence and an air of authority around her. She had blond hair and was almost as tall as Reid.

"Hi. I'm Mackenzie. Are you the new one? They said they would bring someone…" – She asked, looking at him expectantly.

"I guess I am." – Reid shrugged, not really sure about this whole thing. – "Lottie here said I was." – He added helpfully.

"Lottie?" – The girl; Mackenzie; repeated with raised eyebrows.

The little girl looked up at her and sighed dramatically.

"He insist on calling me that, even though I have told him thousands of times I'm Charlotte or Charlie!" _And_ he's mean." – She said in a whisper that carried all across the room.

"I'm not mean!" – Defended himself the profiler, although he didn't know why. It wasn't as if it mattered what a preschooler thought about him. – "I have no idea what's going on! One moment I'm waiting for the train that would take me to work… The next moment I wake up here with a pounding headache and a little know-it-all lecturing me!"

Mackenzie nodded.

"It happened similarly to us all." – She said. – "See that boy over there? He's 16. He's called Caleb and he has Asperger's. He doesn't talk to us at all; we only know his name because he has those cards by him all the time…"

"Jesus. Why did they bring him here then if he doesn't even talk?"

"Because he can memorize anything in just a matter of hours. And I mean anything: he knows the timetables of all the trains in New York and remembers the serial numbers of all the subway carriages. If you give him a pen and paper, he write all this down."

"Impressive… But I still don't see what those scientists want with that knowledge."

The girl shook her head.

"They don't want the _knowledge_. They want to know how his brain works." – She explained. – "That's what they want to study."

"The brain?" – Repeated Reid, trying to understand what kind of UnSubs they were dealing with. They were obviously of the deluded kind…

"I told you that already!" – Piped in Charlotte who was still standing beside the profiler, listening in.

Both adults ignored her.

"Casey and Brody are twins." – She pointed towards the two. They really looked exactly alike and Reid estimated them to be around 20 years old. – "Both are excellent musicians and even compose musical pieces themselves. Casey plays the piano and the violin while Brody prefers the cello and the guitar. They claim they can 'feel' and 'see' music. They have been compared to Mozart many times since their early childhood."

"Let me guess: our captors want to know how this works…?"

"Bingo! And Sophia? She's 28, and has an IQ of 179. She excels in all natural sciences and does research for several museums, even abroad. Erik there…" – She pointed at a boy who sat in the corner, ignoring everything going on around him. – "… he has autism and sometimes flips out. Luckily, he's not very strong… Anyway, he can recite the entire Bible. He has, according to his parents, only read it once. And that was when he was about 8. He's eighteen now and has been all over the news some time ago."

"That explains how they knew about him… And I think I'm starting to see the pattern here."

"Yeah. Cloe is 15 and can do the most difficult math equations in her head in just minutes. Riley can read in nine different languages, including Simplified Chinese, Modern Japanese and Vietnamese. She was never taught any of them." – The girl who looked to be about 18, waved at them with a friendly smile when she realized they were looking at her. Mackenzie waved back, before continuing. – "Taylor and Tristan are both excellent at Geography. Not only do they know all the capitals of every country but they know all the rivers, mountains and, in Tristan's case, the minerals of a certain region and all there is to know about mining. Tristan is a bit better; then again: he's also older by two years. He's sixteen and Taylor is only fourteen."

"I can't believe they'd kidnap children just to study them! It's crazy." – Reid shook his head. But thinking about it further: couldn't he believe it? After everything he'd seen in his FBI career, he though he should actually believe anything…

"Fortunately, not everyone is a child. Abby is 25 and she graduated from Stanford when she was only nineteen but then stayed to work on her own projects. She's a Physicist and currently researches gamma rays and photons."

"Wow. That's pretty impressive!" – He admitted. As a scientist himself, he found these topics very interesting. He sometimes wished he could do this kind of research too… Not that he'd give up his career for it, but still. It would be nice to have time to do some scientific work like he had planned before joining the FBI.

For some reason, Mackenzie looked annoyed at his enthusiasm and quickly went on to the last person.

"Julian is 23 and he can write and talk backwards. He's the only one of us who had never officially been called a genius before but, according to these researchers, his brain must be special for this to come so natural to him. Well, that and he also has photographic memory as well as ADHD. I don't advice you to try to talk with him. It's usually very nerve-wracking. Actually, he only understands lyrics…"

"Lyrics?"

"Yeah… He knows at least ten thousand lyrics and talks using them… Sometimes even backwards… It's creepy. Did you know there are hidden meanings in some of the songs you can only find if you play them backwards?"

"No. I can honestly say I didn't know that. So, I guess I shouldn't expect a normal conversation with him anytime soon?"

Lottie who had been silent the past few minutes, patted him on the arm with compassion.

"Don't worry; you can talk with me!" – She offered.

"I feel so much better already…" – He said, hoping he hadn't sounded too sarcastic. – "And what about you, Lottie? What do you excel at?"

"I remember people's names!" – She blurted cheekily. Reid only shrugged. – "I learn very fast! I taught myself to read when I was three and I could count to a hundred by the time I was two and a half! I'm going to fourth grade and I know a lot!" – She informed him proudly. – "Pretty cool, isn't it?"

"Yep, pretty cool. I hope you're not bullied at school by the older classmates?" – The profiler asked, remembering his own torturous childhood and almost shuddering at the thought this little girl could be going through the same hell he'd experienced.

"No, they're all very nice! I miss them… and my mommy and daddy and even my big sister Susie… Even though I hate her most of the times."

"I'm sorry…" – What was there to say to that? The tiny child had been kidnapped from her family and held here for far longer than what a five-year-old should spend without her parents and friends. That was just sad. – "Listen here, Lottie: we'll get home soon. All right? I promise you that!"

She looked up at him with huge, hopeful eyes from behind her glasses.

"Really?"

"Really."

Mackenzie shook her head and pulled him a bit to the side by grabbing his arm rather harshly.

"Why do you promise something you won't be able to keep? It will just make her feel even worse!" – She accused in an angry whisper. – "You don't know anything about this place; you just arrived!"

Reid jerked his arm out of her strong hold and folded them stubbornly over his chest.

"Well. And I still know we'll get out of here." – He stated confidently.

"And just how can you be so sure, if I may ask?"

"Because I have an upcoming journey I can't miss, that's why." – That was it. There was no place to argue: he would travel to Europe with Rossi if that was the last thing he ever did!

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

"Sir, look here!" – Shouted Garcia, already hurrying towards the Conference Room where the whole BAU team was seated along with the five OCU members. They had to bring in some extra chairs to fit them all but they were all settled now. The Organized Crime Unit chief, SSA Collins, had needed to get back to the 'bat cave' half an hour ago, but he had promised to let his five men stay for as long as it would be necessary. – "Look, what I found!" – The computer analyst exclaimed as soon as she had arrived to the others.

"What is it, Baby Girl?" – Inquired Morgan impatiently.

"Come on, Pen! Tell us!" – Urged her JJ who was very worried about their missing 'little brother'.

"Okay, okay… Look, guys: other people like our Sweet Boy are missing too!"

"What do you mean, 'like Reid'? In what are they like him?" – Asked Emily, trying to understand what they were dealing with.

"Geniuses! People with extremely high IQ or outstanding abilities! Like the woman who went missing from Stanford around two weeks ago! She graduated very early and has been doing research there ever since. And then, one day, she failed to show up for work in the morning and they haven't been able to reach her. She's listed as a missing person. And she's only one of many. The youngest is a five-year-old girl, Charlotte Park. She was presumably taken from her school where she was supposed to meet her mother. She's a mini-Reid with her wide-range of knowledge!"

For a moment, everyone was too stunned to utter a sound. Finally, it was Ian who gulped and found his voice first.

"So… you're saying these people… kidnappers… whoever they are: are _collecting_ geniuses?"

"Ahm… It looks like that." – Answered Rossi, studying the documents Garcia had brought. – "These cases are too similar to not be related at all. The question is: why? What do they want with them?"

"But… At least we can assume they don't want to harm them. I mean, whatever they took them for, surely, they need them to be healthy to do that, right? Don't you think that means Genius Boy should be all right until we find him…?" – Dean tried to be optimistic and looked to one person from the other to find reassurance.

It didn't come though. All the BAU members could still remember the Hankel-case too vividly to be able to be at ease with the situation.

"We will need to do a geographic profile, see where they all were kidnapped from-" – Then Hotch trailed off, looking a bit unsure of himself. The geographic profile was something that was always done by Reid. None of them was as good at it as their youngest.

"I'll try to do it." – Offered Garcia, knowing very well it was their best chance to pinpoint where the hostages could be held.

"Thanks, Penelope… We will also-"

"Is it true?" – Came the biting question from the door, causing everyone to whip around. – "Is one of you really missing?" – Asked BAU Section Chief SES Erin Strauss, striding towards them in a way that let them know she wasn't impressed at all.

"How does she know?" – Whispered Walker to Marshall. But the other man just shrugged.

"Why wasn't I told about this right away?" – The section chief asked, glaring daggers at the stunned unit chief. – "Do I have to hear it from other agents instead of those who are directly involved?"

"Erin, it's not like that-"

"It is exactly like that, Dave. You know very well you're not allowed to work the case if you're affected by it! I'll have Sam Cooper's team do it. You can't."

"But, ma'am…" – Morgan tried to keep his voice steady and as respectful as possible under the dire circumstances. – "They're somewhere in Texas right now, working another case. We can't possible wait for them to get back when every minute counts!"

"You'll do as I say, SSA Morgan. I don't need a group going rouge because they're worried. We've had enough of that already and we all know where it leads." – She said, staring pointedly at Hotch, referring to the numerous times they had treated the rulebook somewhat generously, especially when one of them was somehow involved. – "And you…" – She said, pointed at the OCU members. – "What are you doing here?"

"We're helping them find the boy, ma'am. SSA Collins has allowed it." – Explained Simon patiently.

"Yes, we are trained for assignments like that." – Added Ian.

Strauss looked uncertain, having never before seen BAU members cooperating with other sections like that and fearing it was calling for a catastrophe.

"Please, Erin. Just give us some time. You know we couldn't work anything else now anyway. And you can't really expect us to wait for Sam to come back! They're needed there and we're here to do this. Please." – Rossi was all but begging here, he knew it very well, but… it was about Spencer!

The strict sections chief visibly hesitated.

"We'll treat this case just like any other: we'll be professional and precise. I guarantee." – Declared Hotch seriously. – "It's not only Reid who's been taken but other geniuses as well. Seven people that we already know of, among them a five-year-old little girl; and there might be much more. This is a series of kidnappings and we're sure they're all connected. It would be our job anyway. Please."

Strauss sighed.

"Three days. You get three days to make a headway. If nothing happens by then, you'll give the case to Cooper without complaint."

"Yes, ma'am."

"And if you put as much as a toe out of line, Aaron, so help me God, I'll have you all fired. And the Organized Crime Unit members as well. Understood?"

"Yes. Perfectly."

"Good. Then do your best." – With that, she walked out, leaving the eleven agents behind, looking after her in surprise.

Ian gulped.

"Well… she's a real joy to be around…"

"Oh, that she is." – Groaned Emily, for once agreeing with one of her enemies.

"Come on, everyone. You heard it: we only have three days! So, let's start to work!" – Commanded the boss and everyone obeyed without question.

They needed to find their missing genius as soon as possible.

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

"So, you haven't told us anything about yourself yet. Not even your name." – Reminded him Mackenzie as they were sitting on the floor in the room with all the others doing whatever it was they did in their free time. For example, Lottie was reading a book in a pace that was certainly faster than the average reading speed of a normal adult. Not as quick as Reid, but still fast enough to call attention. The youngest profiler wondered if he should warn her not to advertise her ability too much, since it would prompt others to use her… But then again, she had told him she wasn't bullied at school, so he supposed it probably wouldn't happen to her anyway.

He felt Mackenzie nudge him gently, since he hadn't answered her question.

Reid sighed.

"You haven't told me about yourself either." – He said.

"True. But you at least know my name."

The profiler smiled at that.

"I actually know much more than that. Just not from you telling me."

The girl looked towards the reading child.

"Charlie?" – She guessed.

"Partially. But also from you."

"What? You just said I haven't told you anything. Which is true."

The agent leaned back against the wall and prepared himself for an explanation he didn't really want to give. His thought were occupied with their situation and this conversation was distracting him too much for it to be worth. However, Rossi and the OCU members had been teaching him lately to 'fit in with normal people' and he could particularly hear their warning how it would be rude to just ignore someone who showed interest in you. Damn social expectations.

"You can talk more with actions than with words." – He started tiredly. His head was still hurting badly. – "As a matter of fact: people use words to mislead others, but they can not lie with their body language and behavior. That's what I do: I analyze criminal minds. I'm a profiler in the FBI."

"That's just… WOW! And what do you know about me then?"

He looked at her searchingly for a moment before replying.

"You're highly intelligent but can cover it up very well."

She snorted bitterly.

"Clearly not well enough if I'm here, don't you think?"

He ignored her intervention and went on with his observations.

"You work in a leading position and that fits your personality. You have become the natural leader of this group right away. You were probably one of the firsts, if not the very first, to be taken. You know how to negotiate with our kidnappers and I guess most of the things we have here have been given us due to that talent of yours being applied." – He was, of course, referring to the numerous books, playing cards and board games they seemed to have. – "You keep the others in line and in turn, you can ask for small favors from the scientists, like letting Lottie rest more or to tolerate the autistic behavior of Erik, Julian and Caleb."

She looked amused.

"How do you know that?"

"It has been obvious from the very beginning: you were the only one to approach me. Me told me about the others. Even here, in this sanctuary, away from the kidnappers, they look towards you to see your reaction before taking or doing anything. You're a fair but stern leader and you command obedience not because you're a tyrant but because you believe that's the only way to survive this."

"And again: I'm impressed. You're right in everything."

"Thanks. As I said; it's my job to observe and draw conclusions of what I see."

"So, I won't have to expect any trouble with you either? You understand why I want us to behave well?"

Reid looked away, studying everyone going about their business as if it were normal to be held captive and bossed around by someone instead of living their lives free.

"Just because I know what you believe will help us, I don't necessarily have to agree with it." – Was all he said in the end.

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

"This doesn't really make any sense! It's just a big disarray!" – Complained Garcia, looking at the map she had created from the location of the assumed kidnappings. – "I have no idea how our Baby Boy does it that it always just works for him somehow!"

"This looks like… I guess it could be a… ahm… never mind. This doesn't look like anything. Sorry…" – Shrugged Dean helplessly.

Emily shot him a dark look over Morgan's shoulder. The dark-skinned man was bent over the map, trying to make out the markings the computer analyst had made.

"So, this is where the little girl was taken, right?" – He asked, pointing at a red dot decorating the area.

"Yes. And here…" – Penelope pointed at another spot. – "… is where the university researcher was last seen."

"No, I think it was half a mile to the west."

"I'm pretty sure it was here!"

"Does it even matter?"

"Okay, let's just summarize what we know, shall we?" – Interrupted them Rossi before they would start arguing again, like they had been doing this last hour or so. – "Come on, people! We're not an incompetent bunch of idiots just because we're missing our genius! We have to work together to help him!"

"Damn right! We all need to work together!" – Came a loud and firm voice from the partially open door, interrupting their conversation. Everyone startled and turned to find…

" _Gideon_!? What are you doing here?" – Billowed Morgan angrily. In his humble opinion, the man had no right to be anywhere near their investigation anymore. Not since he had abandoned them in dire need. – "How did you even get in without a badge?"

"I was working here for a good 25 years, Derek, so: what do you think?" – The ex-senior profiler challenged, waving his visitor's card around. – "All the guards know me."

"Jason… Welcome. But… how did you know…?" – Asked Hotch, shaking the older man's hand, looking confused.

"I sent him an SMS." – Offered Rossi. – "He has a right to know and be here if he wants to. And it's about Spencer now! He needs all of us!"

The others were all watching their unit chief in anticipation, awaiting verdict. The boss considered the matter only for a moment, before closing his eyes and sighing.

"Fine. For Reid, we'll need to work together. All of us. So: let's do it, people!"


	5. Responsibility of Being a Genius

**Responsibility of Being a Genius**

The next day, Reid woke up feeling cranky, which had much to do with the fact that he was being held captive by crazy scientists wanting to research his brain, and also, not in small part, with Lottie having slept next to him ("You're my newest bestest friend!" – she had declared), kicking and hitting him hard in the torso and legs every tenth minute or so as she'd been restlessly moving around the whole night. All in all, his day wasn't starting well.

And it had just gotten worse: he had been told there wasn't any coffee for breakfast.

"What kind of torture chamber is that!?" – He bellowed, causing at least four people in his vicinity to wince at his outburst.

"Shh. It's not polite to yell!" – Rebuked him Charlotte. The little girl was contently munching on her chocolate croissant, not sympathetic with the profiler's problem in the least. – "You can drink tea."

Reid felt appalled at the idea.

"Tea? TEA!? I absolutely cannot drink tea!"

"Not a morning person, are you?" – Asked Mackenzie with a smirk, seemingly totally content with her own breakfast beverage: a healthy amount of orange juice.

The profiler grumbled something nobody understood while the little menace patted his arm compassionately.

"I hate to get up early in the morning too." – She said.

"Grrr…" – Was all Reid could say to that.

Not five minutes later there was a loud 'gong' sound which – assuming from everyone else's reactions – signaled that it was time to go to 'work'. The other geniuses hurriedly finished their respective sandwiches or pastries and gathered by the door.

"What will happen now?" – Asked Reid, turning to Mackenzie.

"We'll go into the lab and begin the task they'll assign for us today." – She explained quietly, pulling him up and motioning for him to follow her to where the rest of the group was already waiting.

"I hope we'll get to solve difficult math problems again!" – Whispered Lottie hopefully, holding on to Reid's hand tightly and bouncing up and down excitedly. – "I like it because I'm great at Math!"

"Is there something you're not great at?" – Asked the profiler sarcastically, wincing as the girl yanked his arm again and again with the jumping she was doing.

"Hmm…. No. I don't think so. I'm good at everything!"

"I bet you are…"

The door opened with a soft buzz, and the group filed out in a way that made it clear it was an everyday routine. Reid followed them reluctantly (Lottie pulled him impatiently, urging him to walk quicker), hating the way he was made to comply with their captors' plan.

"Good morning, everyone. Please, take your seats, you'll be given your assignments right away!" – Came the cheerful greeting from a small man in a white lab coat, ushering them into a spacious room that looked like a classroom in a school with the tables and chairs positioned facing forward towards a blackboard and some other lab equipment prepared for them, waiting to be used. The only difference was that all tables held a funny device that should, Reid realized, measure their brain's activity while they solved the tasks.

"That's creepy!" – He said, looking at the 'Portable Brain Scanners' in disdain. – "I'm not wearing that!"

"Ah, our newest guest!" – Exclaimed the scientist brightly, smiling like a little kid in a candy store.

Reid made a face.

"You're calling us 'guests'? That's outrageous! The invitation I got was a huge hit on my head I could have done without!" – He growled angrily, ignoring Mackenzie's increasingly obvious attempts to quiet him down.

The man looked honestly surprised at his outburst and shook his head in negation.

"But, Mr. Reid…"

"Doctor Reid!"

"Doctor… Of course. Doctor Reid. Let us explain why you're here and I assure you: you'll understand!"

"I seriously doubt that."

The older man gulped, seemingly not used to his 'guests' putting up a fight.

"Come with me, please. The others can start with the tests you'll find on your desks. Don't forget to activate your Brain Scanners before starting to solve the problems. Thank you. Doctor Reid: this way."

The youngest profiler hesitated for a moment but then his curiosity got the better of him and he silently walked after the scientist, leaving the others behind. They all dutifully sat at their respective desks and did as they had been told. It was all very frustrating for Reid to see.

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

Meanwhile in Quantico, the BAU and OCU teams hadn't slept anything at all, and still hadn't gotten anywhere with their investigation.

"I can't believe we can't at least narrow down the area they could be held at!" – Moaned JJ, her voice half-angry, half-bitter. – "Spence needs us and we don't even know where to begin to look for him!"

"JayJ, come on, calm down. We'll find him and he'll be fine. He's a fighter."

"Yeah, but for how long? Emily, you saw what happened to him with Hankel! Do you really think he could take it again?"

"I'd rather like to think that this time, it's nothing like before." – Was all the raven-haired woman could say.

Simon looked at Rossi.

"David, what are they talking about? What happened to Genius Boy with 'Hankel'? Whatever it means."

The unit chief and the senior profiler exchanged a meaningful glance. Gideon shook his head, trying to change the topic, but Hotch sighed and said:

"I think they have a right to know, Jason. Everyone else: you go and rest. No arguments, Morgan!" – He added quickly, seeing the other agent open his mouth to protest. – "Reid will need us at our best. If we collapse from exhaustion, it certainly won't be beneficial for him in any way."

With that, he motioned for Rossi, Gideon and the five Organized Crime Unit members to follow him into his office, leaving Garcia, Morgan, JJ and Emily behind. Needless to say, they didn't have any intension to stop working the case.

In the unit chief's office, the tension was tangible.

"Hankel was a man with multiply personalities…" – Began Hotch with the painful explanation. – "… who kidnapped and tortured Reid for days. We nearly lost him then and, understandably, it still weighs heavily on us. So much that we normally don't even speak about it at all."

"Oh, my God!" – Exclaimed Marshall. – "He never told us about it!"

"Yes! Why wouldn't he say anything? We'd have helped…" – Dean shook his head sadly and the others mirrored his movement.

"It was before he knew you." – Offered Rossi. – "It was even before I came along. I only learned about it much later."

"I was here." – Admitted Gideon reluctantly, self-hatred evident from the tone of his voice. – "It was my fault he nearly died."

"No, Jason. It wasn't." – Sighed Hotch tiredly. – "But I know you won't believe me, no matter how often I'll tell you that."

"No. I won't. Because I KNOW it was my fault."

Walker had lost his patience by now.

"Would someone tell us finally what exactly happened to our Genius Boy? And why was it your fault? We should know, he spends 90% of his free time with us! This could be an issue!"

"There's not much to tell. He got kidnapped, he was tortured, he died. He got resurrected. He got rescued. And it was my fault because I was his mentor and I was supposed to take care of him."

"Jason, stop it. The point is: we're all worried because this situation reminds us of that horrible time. Though it also has to be mentioned that it was all due to his cunning and quick thinking that he survived and we found him in the first place. He's a fighter, even if you wouldn't tell just by looking at him."

Ian nodded.

"He's full of surprises."

"We'll find him." – Declared Simon determinedly. – "We'll find him and he'll be fine."

"I hope so…" – Hotch whispered. – "You know, I've always been afraid we'd only have him temporarily…"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, Dave, that I've been afraid of losing him ever since he joined our team. That one day, he'll go and get himself into a trouble there's no coming back from. That he'll get himself killed. Someone who lives life three times faster than normal people, is bound to end it sooner too."

"You never told me about these feelings." – Remarked Gideon. – "When I approached you with the idea of taking him in, you never opposed it. You didn't say you didn't want a responsibility like that. We knew it would be different from anything we'd ever done. We talked about it."

"I know that, and I didn't protest because I knew from what you told me, he'd have a place on this team and I had no problem with the responsibility. I knew it would be more like raising a child than anything else and I was happy to take on the challenge; so were the others. And we were right: I wouldn't change that decision for anything. I'm just constantly worried, that's all." – The unit chief explained. – "It's just that, for him, solving the case, catching UnSubs and saving victims comes first. His own needs only after all these. It's disconcerting to see."

"Isn't that true for all of you though?" – Smiled Dean humorlessly. – "I know it's true for us. He's part of the team in that sense too."

"You're right. But still: it's like trying to hold water in your hands. He's always slipping away… It used to be somewhat easier, because I knew that when we weren't working, he was at home. Now though? He gives guest lectures at Georgetown with Jason. He trains with you guys. He visits his friends in Madison. He very nearly has a second home at Dave's…"

"Not just _nearly_." – Smiled Rossi. – "So, your problem is, essentially, that he's growing up and has an own life that's not just about the job?"

"No! I mean… No… Well. Of course I want him to be happy! It's just that… I once visited him unannounced when we didn't have a case, and he wasn't at home!" – Everyone stared at Hotch in bewilderment, and the unit chief knew they couldn't understand his concerns. But could he blame them? He didn't understand it himself… – "I called him in total panic." – He admitted sheepishly.

"I remember that. He was with me in Georgetown for the weekend and couldn't figure out what he'd done wrong." – Said Gideon.

"He didn't do anything wrong. I'm so stupid…"

"No. You're like a father learning to let go of his child for the first time." – Corrected him Simon, eyes sparkling knowingly. He didn't have children of his own, but he had seen his older sister be exactly like that when her two teenage daughters had started to get more independent.

"Don't tell me I'll have to go through that with Jack too?" – Everyone smirked. He could swear, the Organized Crime Unit members were starting to behave just like profilers… – "Damn…" – He sighed. – "But whatever: we have to get Reid back. And then I swear I'll chain him to his desk in the bullpen so that he'll never be able to leave Quantico again!"

"All right, Aaron, but only after our travel." – Added Rossi. – "He wouldn't ever forgive if you made him miss that."

Because it wasn't a question they'd get him back before they were due to fly to Europe. They had to find him.

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

"Doctor Reid, welcome to our research center!" – The scientist said with the enthusiasm of a child as he ushered the profiler into another room.

However, calling it a 'research center' was, in Reid's opinion, somewhat of an exaggeration: it was a tiny place with four work desks and typical lab equipment. The only thing worth of mentioning was a huge screen connected to a very sophisticated-looking high-tech computer by one of the walls. On one of the other walls, a television showed the activity in the room where the hostages were currently working on their papers, computers running calculations using the data they got from the Brain Activity Scanners of each person.

Three other people wearing similar lab coats were sitting at their respective desks, all looking up as Reid and his host entered.

"Doctor Reid! I'm so happy to have you here!" – One of the men jumped up and hurried to greet the profiler. Reid was actually too surprised at the warm welcome to protest against the handshake. They were _glad_ to see him!? They had kidnapped him, for God's sake! What was going on!? – "I'm Professor… khm… you can call me Freddy."

"You're Professor Frederick Gibbs from UCLA." – Said the young man, rolling his eyes. – "I've read all your papers and seen your presentations about the connection between the love of parents and the child's brain-development. I especially liked your animated demonstrations about how differently the brain can develop at certain stages of childhood when said child is neglected." – He explained.

The old researcher looked very surprised and mildly uncomfortable to be recognized.

"Ahm… yes. Thank you. It's an honor to have you interested in my studies."

"Professor, were you kidnapped too?"

"Khm… well… no… I'm…-"

"We're all here working for a common goal: to get to know the human brain better!" – Explained the man who had brought him here, urging him to step inside and take a look around. – "I assure you, Doctor Reid, that you'll soon understand the importance of our research and you'll cooperate willingly with us."

" _Willingly_? I'm a hostage!"

"Oh, no, no, no! You're our guest!" – Assured him another man, introducing himself as 'Alfie'.

"You're mental! I'm here against my will! But if I'm a guest then I guess it won't be a problem if I want to leave? Hmm?" – He challenged, knowing full well it couldn't be this simple.

And of course it wasn't.

"I'm sorry, it doesn't work that way…" – Shook his head 'Alfie' apologetically. – "Let us show you what we do, and you'll understand why."

Reid seriously doubted he would but – having no other choice – he followed the men to the big screen where an animated presentation was starting.

 _The first Homo sapiens appeared on Earth around 200,000 years ago._

The singsong female narrative was accompanied by the widely known drawings about the human evolution, showing the process of the genus homo developing gradually into the humans of today.

 _Homo sapiens means "the thinking man" or "the wise man", referring to the humans' ability to use their brains for more than just simple everyday activities like hunting, fishing, eating or reproduction._

Reid snorted: most humans he'd had the misfortune to come across would be happy to have all the above mentioned talents, let alone be able to think any further than that…

 _The_ _progression brought along a wide variety of changes, such as gaining the_ _habitual erect posture and a bipedal gait,_ _the thumbs and hands as we know them today and all the activities these enable us, just as creating tools or even use tools to create newer, better machines. And as such: modern humans appeared._

Now the video fast forwarded to the era of the Industrial Revolution, showing the transition to new manufacturing processes in big steps, such as iron production, the usage of steam power, mines and factories.

 _The knowledge of humankind about the workings of the world around them continued to get wider and more thorough as new innovations sprouted out of seemingly nowhere constantly. While the transportation of goods happened on newly freed canals and widened waterways, bringing the products to farther and farther areas, the great minds like Charles Darwin or John Stuart Mill spread their ideas about the laws of nature and ideologies just as widely, if not even more so._

The screen was now showing mathematical and chemical equations and drawings of rudimental physics experiments.

 _Later, science became more and more pronounced as the knowledge became available to everyone, not just a select few. We already knew about the Earth revolving around the Sun. We soon got to know Newton and later Einstein's theories. We had geniuses all around us, helping humankind become more sophisticated and educated than ever before._

Drawings and photos of Galilei, Plato, Aristotle, Newton, Einstein, Tesla, Mozart, Shakespeare, Darwin and Michelangelo filled the screen.

 _Thanks to these special people, we're all richer and smarter today; all of them gave something to mankind that changed our view of the world drastically. These people – these GENIUSES – are the ones that give us the necessary push forward when it all seems lost and dark._

 _These geniuses are the future. They're to be nurtured and encouraged, for they will help us survive the new obstacles the 21st century throws at us._

The video ended and Reid gaped.

"What the hell?" – Was all he could get out after a minute or so.

'Alfie' explained.

"The problem is, Doctor Reid: the challenges increase and there's not enough of you to help us, humans, survive. Simply put: the world needs more geniuses."

Reid felt dazed… Many questions chased themselves in his mind all wanting to get an upper hand, and, for now, he couldn't seem to even put them into words normally.

" _Challenges_ …?" – He gasped.

Another man nodded seriously.

"Yes. Challenges the 21st century has already presented us with. But rest assure: this is just the beginning."

"I… ahm…"

"Let us show you!"

Another video started and the young profiler's eyes instantly glued to the screen again on their own. He was unable to move. This time, a man's voice filled the tiny room.

 _What to expect in the twenty-first century?_ _Futurists have been trying to answer this question with various predictions for ages. Now, that the time has come, we can safely say: humankind is in its eleventh hour! Everyone beware!_

To give more emphasis to the speech, the narrator used a mystic tone and alternated between meaningful whispers and sudden, startling shouts. It would be quite annoying, had Reid the capability to feel anything but horror at that moment.

 _Still only science fiction but not for long: thinking, 'living' computers will take humans' jobs and tasks. This sounds good, doesn't it? More free time, not having to work… Well, think again! Imagine a world where computers can decide whether you got to eat or not. Whether you have a home or not. Whether they NEED you, or not! No empathy, not compassion… just plain statistics and equations._

 _Privacy will be something our great-grandchildren will only know from history books. Surveillance, security cameras, drones, satellites everywhere, following your every movement and everything you do. Computers analyzing your thoughts and actions. Orwell's dystopia vision will fully happen._

Reid couldn't help a meaningful cough escaping at the actuality of the statement: weren't these men doing the exact same thing to their hostages? But the scientists were too preoccupied watching the show to notice their 'guest's' reaction. Typical…

 _Personalized advertisements targeting you everywhere, smart phones chirping and pinging constantly. Your friends disappear, and only virtual relationships remain. In the end, you won't even have to step out onto the street anymore, as even shopping can be done from home over the internet when the smart fridge signals you're out of milk._

 _The climate will continue to change as we might have already passed the critical point where there's no returning from. The diversity of life on Earth will slowly fade into nothingness, turning our beloved planed into a huge, endless desert around us._

 _The number of diseases will increase, and there won't be antibiotics to help us anymore. Humans will die – millions or even billions._

 _In the end, humans will be extinct – or not? What is our only chance? For now, there seems to be only one answer: we need to become part-machines ourselves! In the future only cyborgs will have a chance to stay alive and live amongst the artificial intelligence dominating the Earth._

The video ended with the picture of a half-human, half-robot man sitting in front of a computer totally alone, only surrounded by numerous screens and speakers. The image etched itself into Reid's mind and the young profiler feared he wouldn't be able to sleep for a week after that.

"Do you understand now, Doctor Reid? Do you? The four of us can do everything in our power and it still won't be enough to stop this horrible future before it could become reality. We're educated but still: we are and will remain just normal persons forever. We were born this way. Humankind needs people like _you_ and your peers in the other room! None of you can waste your abilities doing 'normal' things like do the shopping or feed the cat. You need to use your brains to give us hope and a future!" – One of the scientist said.

"But… but… I don't get it… how would _this_ help?" – The young man stuttered, motioning towards the screen showing his peers bent over their papers, working furiously. – "What's this all got to do with the horrible nightmare that has been predicted as future? You're not even making them work on something that could help! These are just tests!"

"Nothing, Doctor Reid, this has, indeed, nothing to do with creating something that would change the future. This serves another purpose."

"And what would it be?"

"To create more of _you_."

"Ahm… What?"

"There are not enough geniuses to stop our demise, I told you already!" – The man was close to stomping his feet much like Lottie had done before. With the exception that he was a sixty-something educated man and not a five-year-old little girl… - "We need more. Much more. We need to know how you work and how someone becomes a genius!"

Another man continued.

"Is it something you need to be born with? Is it something you can learn? Is it in all of us, buried and waiting to be triggered? _How does a genius work_? That's what we need to find out first."

He could feel the four scientists staring at him expectantly, obviously awaiting some kind of reaction. Anything. But, for the first time in ages, the young profiler was utterly lost for words.


	6. Stick It to the Man!

**VI.** **Stick It To the Man!**

Reid was still fuming as he worked on the papers he'd been given, wearing the ridiculous hat-like device connecting him to the Brain Scanner. He was angry and gave thanks for the fact that the men in the other room could only measure his mind's activity and not 'read' his actual thoughts. They surely wouldn't be happy about his opinion of the whole situation and of them in general.

'These people are completely mental.' – He thought to himself. – 'Totally insane. No wonder the term 'nutty professor' is regularly used in relation to scientists. Pfff. I bet Morgan would have a field day provoking them. I know Dean would make them _cry_.'

He continued turning pages and writing absent-mindedly, while still occupying his thoughts with ways he would like to torture and kill his captors so that he wouldn't miss his trip to Europe.

'I'm becoming an UnSub. But under these circumstances, I know anyone would understand.'

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

The researchers stood staring at the screen that showed the room with the geniuses working in it. They had zoomed in on Doctor Spencer Reid to get a better look at their newest addition to the group – their ultimate prize, it seemed.

"Incredible. Not even a computer works this fast." – Remarked one man, gawking wide-eyed.

The others couldn't believe what they were seeing either.

"Is it even possible? Or is he just leafing through the pages aimlessly? Do you think he can process _anything_ at all with that speed?"

"He sure seems pretty determined and focused…"

"Also very pissed off." – Pointed out another scientist with a bit of worry in his voice.

"Yeah… that too. Do you think he's just stabbing the papers in anger?"

"I don't know."

This went on for another ten minutes, after which Reid turned the last page and found… nothing under it, just the desk. He leaned back against the backrest and folded his arms stubbornly over his chest, looking as if he had bitten into a particularly sour lemon. The others were still engrossed in their tests, not noticing anything around them. All except for Lottie who looked up at his movement and gave him the thumbs up. Reid sighed. This would be a long day.

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

"Sir, I think we've got something!" – Exclaimed Garcia excitedly, motioning at the screen in front of her.

Everyone gathered around the technical analyst and waited hopefully for news that would help them find their missing youngest member. It had already been a over a day since he had been taken and God only knew what he'd had to endure during this time…

"What is it, Penelope? Come on, tell us!" – Urged her JJ, nearly bouncing in the chair she had pulled over.

"All right. So: there is a professor called Alfred Bergmann at Yale who has published studies about the importance of geniuses and how they are the only ones who have a chance at saving the humans from extinction-"

"What the hell!?" – Blurted Morgan, much like Reid at a completely different place. Everyone gave him a dirty look because of the interruption. – "Sorry, Baby Girl… Go on."

"As I was saying: he believes humans are about to disappear from the Earth soon, given our greed, as he calls it… and the way we destroy our planet. And technology. Mostly because of technology." – Garcia raised and eyebrow as she read the article she had found. For her, blaming technology for something human behavior was clearly responsible for, sounded incredibly stupid. Computers only did what the persons using them made them do! – "So, he says that only these unique minds can come up with a solution to this problem."

"Ahm…" – Simon cleared his throat. – "So, this nutty professor took Genius Boy and the others to… what? Change the world? Isn't this a little bit far-fetched…?"

"Well, even college professors can have mental breakdowns and personality disorders…" – Explained Hotch. – "Garcia, do we have anything else on this man?"

"Only that he suddenly quit his job around two months ago, sir." – She replied.

"That's when the kidnappings started." – Remarked Prentiss, snatching the notes they had taken from Ian's hand (ignoring the agent's indignant cry of 'hey!' as the paper cut his palm) and checking the dates. – "Yes. It seems to fit."

"And where does this man live?" – Asked Rossi, already heading for his go bag.

"In New Haven, Connecticut. I'll send the address to your cells." – Said Garcia, already working on it as everyone gathered their things and got ready to leave.

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

Professor Alfred Bergmann owned a large, three level Victorian-era house in one of the most elegant parts of New Haven. He was, quite evidently, very wealthy.

"Wow. Why would someone with a property like that make a habit of kidnapping people instead of enjoying life?" – Marveled Morgan who, as someone with a hobby of renovating properties, was absolutely impressed with the house and its condition.

"Because if someone doesn't have problems, he makes some for himself." – Remarked Walker dryly, eyeing the front door with a certain level of disgust in his eyes because he, contrary to the profiler standing beside him, hated the thought of living in a 'castle' just to show everyone you could do it.

"It's true; that's why I don't ever want to be that rich." – Added Marshall.

"It's not that you don't want to be rich, Wilder. It's just that you'll never be." – Delivered Emily the biting declaration, effectively shutting the other agent up. – "So, shall we go in?"

"Yes. Come on, people." – Said Hotch quickly, already halfway up the stairs. As soon as he got up, he knocked on the door and waited a few seconds, before calling: - "This is the FBI. Is someone at home? Professor Alfred Bergmann?" – He shared a meaningful look with the others before Morgan, understanding the hidden message, kicked the down the door with one well-aimed movement. The unit chief was thankful they'd thought about getting a search warrant, otherwise this could turn out pretty ugly.

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

"Clear!"

Came the shouts from all over the house as the group spread out with drawn guns to check all the rooms.

"Nobody's here." – Marshall concluded after a few minutes, holstering his gun. The others followed suit.

"And it looks like nobody's been here for a while." – Continued Rossi, eyeing the month-old layer of dust covering the kitchen table, the counter and all the bookshelves.

"Let's look for any clues on where the professor; and our Genius Boy; could be." – Suggested Ian, starting to open the envelopes he had found on the floor right under the mail slot. – "He's got lots of unopened letters. And a warning about unpaid bills… Hmm…"

"Really? I didn't think he had money matters…" – Simon gestured around, indicating the richly decorated sitting room that even had a small library with hundreds of first volumes stocked in three different shelves, each reaching up to the ceiling.

"I don't think it's about money. I believe he really hasn't been back here for weeks." – Shouted JJ from upstairs, where she had found the bedroom totally abandoned, the walls bare and the closets completely empty. – "It looks like he moved away ages ago."

"The house is still on his name though." – Said Gideon who had been, up until now, silent and melancholic. It was evident he was still blaming himself for every bad thing that had ever befallen their youngest member. – "There must be a very specific reason for him to stay away for so long…"

"Oh, he does have a reason. He's holding our Genius Boy captive!" – Growled Dean angrily while he was looking through cupboards and drawers for any indication where their missing genius could be.

"We don't know that yet." – Pointed out Walker, though he too found the situation more than suspicious.

"I think I found something!" – Shouted Emily from a smaller room next to the bedroom that apparently served as a home-office. She had been digging though the documents on the desk when she found… - "Letters! Lots of letters written to three colleagues called Professor Frederick Gibbs from UCLA, Professor Abel Jocelyn Hayward from Harvard and Professor Benjamin Walton from Columbia." – She said while everyone filed into the room to take a look.

The letters Prentiss had found were actually printed e-mails shared between the four scientists. A quick read through let the agents know that they were all about the study of the human brain he had been doing and how, in Professor Gibbs' opinion, the brain of a genius could be different from a 'normal' one and he wanted to check it out to make sure.

Hotch quickly dialed.

 _\- Please, tell me you have found our Baby Genius!_

\- Not yet, Garcia, but we're working on it… I have three new names I'd like you to look up for us.

 _\- Anything. Just find him… It's so horrible to sit here alone and worry and-_

\- The names are: Professors Frederick Gibbs, Abel Jocelyn Hayward and Benjamin Walton. Look for any place they could be with so many hostages unnoticed. Look for properties they own or rent, for labs they work in, for family vacation houses, or for… anything at all that could help us. Help Reid.

 _\- Certainly. I'll call you back as soon as I've got something._

"All right, people. Until then, let's continue looking around; maybe we'll find something helpful."

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

"Unbelievable."

"Incredible."

"I can't even find words…"

"It's absolutely amazing."

The four scientists were bent over the geniuses' tests, looking through them while also letting the computer analyze the brain activity they had 'produced' to achieve the results. What they found by Reid's took away their breaths.

"Not a single mistake. Not one."

"He finished in ten minutes what others needed an hour and a half for."

"Could he have cheated?" – Asked 'Alfie' finally, even though he didn't believe so himself. The disbelieving looks and eyerolls he got from the others were answer enough. – "Okay, okay. Just checking." – He defended himself quickly, holding up his hands in the universal sign of surrender.

Apparently, their new 'guest' had spent the remainder of the time after finishing his paper until he'd been let out of the room writing up and solving difficult math equations just for fun, filling six more pages with them with his tiny and messy handwriting. There were also a few drawings between the numbers and some messages obviously meant for the readers, like: 'I won't let you do this to me.', or 'don't think you've won.'. It was somewhat creepy.

"He can be the one to get us to the big breakthrough, my friends! I'm confident he'll be the one we've been waiting for! I can feel it!" – Professor Walton exclaimed excitedly.

"He's not only brilliant but also creative. Look at these problems he solved: he wouldn't have been able to do it with just lexical knowledge."

"And his brain activity? It never changes! He didn't even make an _effort_!"

"However, what seems to be normal for him, would kill anyone else… An activity like that? It would wear anyone out in an hour or so! They'd die!"

"The little girl… ahm… what's her name again?"

Hayward rolled his eyes.

"She's called Charlotte."

"Oh, yes. Her. So, she's the one who resembles him the most in many ways. She has a constant higher than average brain activity as well. Of course not _this_ high but still amazing."

"These two are brilliant. It looks like there's a difference between someone who's a genius in music and arts, or someone who's a genius in physics and math… and these two who are geniuses in… well: _everything_! General Genius; we should call them."

"Their minds have a unique way of working. That's what we need. We need to find out if it can be taught or developed somehow. Do you think they _know_ they're special?"

"I'm sure they've been told at some point during their lives."

"That's not what I mean!" – Protested Bergmann. – "I mean if they can answer our questions about _how_ they think and work!"

"Oh. I'm not sure about that. We'll see. The only important thing now is that they need to cooperate with us. The little girl will be easy to groom but the boy…"

"Do you think we'll have a problem with him?" – Inquired Professor Gibbs, finally voicing the worry that had been on each of their minds ever since they had seen the boy's reaction to their presentation. – "All the others seemed so much more… ahm… _understanding_ , when we explained the situation to them… At least those who paid any attention to us."

"Oh, well… We probably don't need to fear. Khm… He may be angry and resentful but he's still just one young man. Completely powerless to do anything against us. He's brilliant but doesn't look very strong or skilled in fight. We'll be fine."

"You're right, Abel. I mean: just look at him. He's your typical quiet, 'good boy'. I bet he'll look for young Mackenzie's approval to even go loo, just like the others."

All four men nodded, content with their conclusion.

"Well. He's certainly not the type to become a leader."

"Right. Who would listen to him, anyway? These geniuses are all locked in their own little world, completely content to solve puzzles and do their stuff. Most of them can't even communicate with each other."

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

Meanwhile back in their 'common room', Reid was racking his brain about how to get out of this mess, and take at least Lottie with him. But preferably everyone who wanted to go home. There was no way he was going to give up and surrender to these madmen! And when he was already by surrendering…

"Mackenzie… Why do you all let these delusional people bully you around?" – He asked the girl who was sitting close to him, reading a book with great interest, seemingly completely at ease with not a care in the world. Considering their situation, it was a disturbing sight.

She looked up, surprised at his outburst.

"Well… It's complicated." – She said slowly, as she carefully set the book down and turned to the youngest FBI agent, gesturing for him to talk more quietly so that others wouldn't hear. Unfortunately for her, Reid _wanted_ everyone to overhear their conversation, so he pointedly ignored her wish and continued with a raised voice:

"I don't think it's so complicated. We're hostages: we want to get home. What's so difficult to understand about it?"

"Spencer… Right now, we're being taken care of. I don-"

"So, we should be so grateful for the food we get that we need to let them keep us here against our will? Is that what you think? Is that what you all think?" – He asked, turning to include everyone in the question.

The other geniuses fidgeted uncomfortably and avoided his gaze. All but the youngest of them. Charlotte was watching their exchange curiously, following their movements with her eyes as if she were watching the most interesting TV show ever.

"Listen… I just don't want trouble; why don't you get it? They could punish us if we misbehave! They could take away food, beds, books, board games-"

"Board games? BOARD GAMES!? You're freedom is worth a couple of _board games_? Because if you sell it for that, Mackenzie, then you put a price on it, don't you think? Isn't that a bit cheap?"

"I- It's not like that!" – She shook her head, vehemently denying the truth.

"It is _exactly_ like that! And they don't have a right to punish us!" – Reid continued, purposely loud enough for everyone to hear him. – "This here is not the ancient Egypt and we're not their slaves!"

The little girl's eyes lit up at that.

"Did you know that according to the Egyptologists say that the Great Pyramids were actually not built by slaves, as they had thought before, but by peasants?" – She chirped proudly. – "I read a book once and-"

"Yes, thank you, Lottie." – Reid rolled his eyes. Trust the child to say something completely unimportant to their current predicament. A good thing he had never been as annoying as her… - "As I was saying: we're not slaves and nobody has the right to award or punish us as they see fit! We won't be manipulated like that!"

"You don't know what you're talking about, Spencer. You're new here. I've been taking care of the group and they all agree that we need to obey in order to stay alive until the authorities find us."

"Do they though? Did you actually ask them?" – He then turned to the others again. – "Do you really want to play nice?" – Nobody answered. – "Lottie: what do you think?"

The little girl seemed startled at the question. The fact alone, that she didn't protest against the use of the nickname told Reid he needed to find something else to annoy her with soon.

"I… I don't know. I'm only five…"

"That doesn't mean you can't have your own opinion." – The profiler pointed out.

"But adults know better…"

Reid sighed tiredly.

"Lottie… you're a genius; there are, in reality, not many adults who know better than you."

"But you told me that being a genius wasn't everything and I shouldn't brag about it!"

It was true: he had told her that the evening before, since she couldn't stop going on and on about her achievements in her studies.

"But that's not the same! Boasting about your abilities and knowing and using them to their full capacity are two completely different things! You need to know what you want and why you want it. You also need to know how to get it. So, I'll ask again: what do you want, Lottie? Tell us!"

"I…" – She hung her head as if ashamed. – "I miss my mommy and daddy. And my school and friends. And our house."

"Charlie!" – Hissed Mackenzie, trying to stop her.

"What, Maxie? He's right! I want to go home!" – She declared.

Reid nodded.

"All right. What about you, Erik?" – The eighteen-year-old autistic boy started to rock back and forth while pulling at his hair in a way that seemed rather painful. He was clearly agitated. – "Or you, Brody?"

The musician boy stood up.

"I don't want to be here. I just want to play my instruments, that's all. I don't even understand what I'm doing here!"

"Yes!" – His twin sister agreed. – "We'll have a concert in two days. That's all we care about! We're not scientists, we don't do math or physics and we don't want to be part of any experiment."

The profiler addressed the others one by one. Riley gave proclaimed his wish to go home in four different languages, Caleb groaned something that sounded like agreement, while the others all nodded as well.

"And you, Julian? What about you?" – Asked Reid the last person in line who hadn't said anything yet.

"Eb ot desoppus s'ti woh wonk t'nod I…"

"Huh…?" – Then he remembered that the 23-year-old only used lyrics to talk, and even that usually backwards. This was going to be difficult… - "Oh, you know… ahm…" – But something occurred to him that could, maybe, help reach the young man. It was worth a try. – " _When the way you're treated has got you good and pissed, there's been one solution since the world began: don't just sit and take it…"_

The boy, previously only halfway aware of his surroundings, sat up straighter at once, and shouted determinedly:

" _Stick it to the man!_ "

Reid jumped up onto the table to stand higher than everyone else.

"Exactly, that's it! That's what we need! We need to stick it to the men so that they'll understand: they can't do this to us!" – The geniuses all cheered and clapped, suddenly eager to act.

All except for one: Mackenzie still looked uncertain and even a bit scared.

"But, Spencer: how could we do it? We're not strong, we're not fast… We've never done anything like that before… What you suggest: it means _rebellion_!" – She seemed horrified at the very thought of revolting against persons she viewed as authority.

"YES! We're rebelling! And how we'll do it, you ask?" – Reid was really getting into his preachment even though he had never done anything like that before and had never expected to do it either. – "Easy: there's fourteen of us and only four of them. We're not armed but neither are they. We're not strong but they aren't either. We're at an advantage. We're determined and we are going to win!" – Reid said with full confidence. – "Everyone who wants to help them with the research is welcome to do it, but it has to be our own choice and not by them forcing us."

Julian stood up and hollered:

" _Why live your life to someone else's plan!? STICK IT TO THE MAN!_ "

Some agreeing shouts echoed, filling the room, and Reid smiled.

"Indeed: why? The answer is: there's no reason, so we won't. So: who's with the REBELLION?"

"Me!"

"I am!"

"Yes!"

"Of course!"

"Let's do it!"

One by one, everybody confirmed their determination to end this ridiculous captivity as soon as possible. Mackenzie was the only one who still hesitated, so little Charlie took her hand to pull her down to her level and whispered into her ear:

"Please, Maxie! I want to go home! I know you want that too! Don't you miss your parent and friend?"

"Oh, well…" – She hesitated only for a moment. – "Ah, all right. But I hope you know what you're doing, Spencer, because this is all on you."

The youngest FBI agent shuddered. He had never wanted to be a leader – that was Hotch. It could be Rossi or Gideon. It could be Emily or Morgan one day. It could be the members of the Organized Crime Unit. But not him. Never him. He had never wanted to be responsible for anyone else beside himself and maybe his mother; and only because, with her, he hadn't had any other choice. Now though? Did he really want to do it? Also, this wasn't exactly the type of army he'd voluntarily build for himself.

And still, looking around the room, noticing that even those who usually didn't pay attention to anything happening around them had their eyes and ears glued to him now, he knew for certain: there was only one right answer to that. Now, he didn't have any other choice either.

"Fine." – He nodded. – "So, what we need now is a good plan…"

 _*The quote is part of the song 'Stick it to the Man' from the musical School of Rock by Andrew Lloyd Webber, Glenn Slater and Julian Fellowes._


	7. The Rebellion

**The Rebellion**

"Here! Look, guys!" – Shouted Walker excitedly, waving around some papers he had been reading through in the past half an hour while they were waiting for Garcia to find something for them to work with. – "This is interesting."

"What?" – Asked Emily impatiently, while everyone gathered around the OCU member to listen to his discovery.

"Well, I read all the e-mails again, and found that while the first few messages were addressed to each of the four professors, the later e-mails went only to three addresses, and then, in the end, only one recipient is named."

"So?" – Blinked Morgan confusedly. – "What does that mean?"

Gideon took a sharp breath and snapped:

"It's obvious, isn't it?" – Ignoring the annoyed profiler's glare, he went on with the explanation. – "First, all four of them where at home, away from each other, exchanging e-mails about their plan. Then two of them began the work at the hidden place together, while the other two were still away, only keeping in touch over the internet. Then three together sharing their experiences with the fourth and then – in the end – all four of them together; that's when the e-mails stopped. That means-"

"That finding the computer they began using when they came together, will lead us to Reid." – Finished Hotch, pulling out his cell.

\- Garcia? I need you to hack into Professor Bergmann's computer. It's turned on.

 _\- Yes, sir. Just a moment._

\- And then check the e-mails exchanged with the three other professors we gave you the names of.

 _\- Yes, they're here, I can see them._

\- I need the location of the computer the last e-mails were sent from.

 _\- It might take a while but I'll do my best, sir. But you need to know: it won't be an exact address, just a rough area… IP addresses may change from time to time and-_

\- It's fine, Garcia, we know it's not a hundred percent accurate. But it's a start. When you have it, I want you to cross-reference the result with everything we already know about the other three, especially Professor Gibbs, because these last e-mails came from his personal e-mail address.

 _\- Understood. He owns a couple of properties and rents some more…_

\- We need a match with the location of the computer. That's where Reid is most probably held.

 _\- Oh, I see! I'm on it, sir._

"Can she really find out all these?" – Asked Ian, clearly impressed.

"She can do almost anything." – Smiled Morgan, proud of his 'Baby Girl'. – "Garcia is our secret weapon."

Simon whistled.

"Impressive. A genius and a technical analyst. No wonder you're the most successful team in the whole FBI."

"Let's just hope our talent won't abandon us now, when Reid needs it the most…" – Sighed Rossi, resigning himself to wait until their computer whiz would come up with something.

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

It was time to begin the tests again, but today, the geniuses had other plans.

"NO! I'm not doing it!" – Screeched Charlotte just like they had agreed she would. Throwing a tantrum didn't come as difficult to her as one might have expected. It seemed, she'd had some practice after all… - "I want to _play_!"

Most of the others didn't seem bothered about her behavior at all; Mackenzie being the only one who made an effort to smile apologetically at the bewildered scientist who came to fetch the group that morning to take them to the other room.

"Sorry. This happens with kids, you know." – She explained shrugging. Even she, very uncharacteristically so, wasn't making any move to calm the little girl down. – "Five-year-olds can be difficult to handle sometimes. Even genius ones."

"Ahm…" – The man furrowed his brows. – "Maybe she's getting sick? Do you feel good, little girl?"

"My name is Charlotte or Charlie! And Spencer calls me Lottie, but only he is allowed to do that!" – She argued.

"I'm sorry… Charlotte… Are you feeling all right?"

"NO!"

The man was starting to panic now.

"And what's wrong? Is your head hurting? Shall we… I don't know… Ahm… I think I need to talk to the others. Excuse me, please." – With that, he hurriedly left, as if chased by an enraged lion.

"So, how was I?" – Asked the little menace with a mischievous smile as soon as they were left alone again.

Reid high-fived her.

"Perfect. Absolutely amazing."

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

"This study is frightening." – Remarked Marshall. He had been reading through the documents they had found in the house about the research concerning geniuses and was completely disgusted by it. – "These men talk about geniuses like objects. As if they weren't even human beings but only enormous brains without feelings to be used and studied for the sake of science!"

"Yes. Here, for example: ' _Experience shows that early cognitive intelligence has more effect on the subjects' success in later life than any deliberate practice, hard studying or social status. It is important and even recommended to allow highly gifted children to skip grades in school, since studies reveal these persons are most likely to achieve doctorates and even academic awards for their outstanding abilities. These subjects may enter the peak of their career as early as their early- or mid-thirties._ ' They have the audacity to repeatedly call them 'subjects'!" – Growled JJ, feeling angry on her friend's behalf already. Reid was a caring, lovely person, for God's sake, not a 'subject'! – "Who do these people think they are!?"

"If I can help it, Spencer won't be their subject for long." – Promised Gideon with so much fury in his eyes that even Hotch took a frightened step backwards upon seeing it.

At that moment, the unit chief's cell started to ring.

\- You're on speaker, Garcia.

 _\- Sir, I found the place! The last e-mails came from Cape Coral, Florida. Professor Gibbs owns a vacation house at the beach but he also rents a property that's bigger and more convenient for doing research… I checked and officially, it's been abandoned for years. Unofficially though, the satellite map shows movement. And Professors Hayward and Walton's cars parking in front of it! I'm sending you the coordinates._

\- Great job, Garcia!

 _\- Thank you, sir. Just find him, please…_

\- We will. I promise.

"You heard, everyone. We're flying to Florida; wheels up in ten!"

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

All four scientists entered the room to check on the rampaging little girl.

"Dear, are you feeling all right?" – Asked 'Alfie', looking honestly concerned. – "Do you want to rest today?"

"NO!" – Screamed Lottie, expertly following Reid's previous instructions to create chaos. – "I want to go home! I want my mommy!" – She even stomped her feet and squeezed a couple of tears out of her eyes. She was impressive.

"Ahm… but we already talked about it… What we do here… it's important… khm… Benjie, do something!"

"Why me!?"

"Because you're the only one of us who has a kid of his own, that's why!"

Professor Benjamin Walton swallowed audibly and help up his hands as if surrendering, before taking a tentative step towards the hollering little girl.

"There, there… it's okay… it's- OUCH!" – He shouted suddenly. – "This little monster bit my finger! AAAAHH!"

Spencer suppressed a chuckle and forced himself to put on an annoyed expression instead.

"Can't you shut her up? My head's starting to pound!" – He whined. – "I won't possibly be able to work today with a headache like that!" – He added for good measure.

Charlotte was trashing on the floor and screaming bloody murder as if possessed by a demon.

Caleb started to rhythmically hit his head against the wall. Professor Hayward tried to stop him but couldn't manage anything but getting hit in the face himself for his effort.

"Why's he doing that?" – He asked Mackenzie, trusting the young woman to know the answer, as up until now she had been the one to keep everyone in line. Nobody knew what might have changed so suddenly…

"He's got Asperger's." – She shrugged nonchalantly. – "He can't take a commotion like that. An episode like that was bound to happen sometime."

"Oh…"

Erik was loudly reciting the Bible and warning everyone about their sins, and Riley was cursing in different languages while Julian quoted different songs – backwards, of course, making it sound like a lost, ancient language.

The whole scene looked more like a nursery full of naughty, crying children and a couple of powerless teachers as onlookers than a scientific lab. The professors were clearly panicking.

All the other geniuses declared strike as well, saying they couldn't and wouldn't work under these circumstances anymore, because 'a genius needs inspiration and we don't get it like that'.

"You won't work anymore?"

"NO, WE WON'T!"

"Not anymore."

"Never!"

"But what's going on? Why are you all behaving like maniacs today? What happened?" – Inquired a very confused and frightened-looking Professor Gibbs. – "I don't understand anything… It's been going so great…"

"Oh, don't you?" – Snapped Reid, having had enough of playing dumb and deciding to end this ridiculous theater for good. – "Really!? You can't even imagine what could be wrong?" – He motioned for the others to quiet down and everyone, even Erik and Caleb who never listened to anyone, obeyed immediately as if he had waved a wand and uttered a spell.

The scientists blinked in confusion.

"What did you do? Is that all because of you?" – Bergmann accused.

"Yes, it is." – Answered Reid with a cheeky smile. – "I must admit, it is even better than I expected. It seems they all have had enough of your manipulation already; I just helped them realize it."

"How dare you!?"

"How dare _I_? You must be crazy! How dare _you_ kidnap us and keep us locked up here? How dare you make us participate in your stupid tests and forbid contact to our families!? How dare you mess with our lives!?" – The youngest profiler was on his feet and shouting by now.

"Yes, Spencer is right!" – Chirped the five-year-old, having stopped the tantrum when Reid had asked them to stay quiet. – "You can't do this to us! We're all human beings and have, according to the Constitution of the United States, the right to liberty and that means personal freedom! We're not slaves because slavery was ruled out-"

"Thank you, Lottie." – Sighed Reid. – "The point is: it's over with the tests and the imprisonment. We'll go home. All of us."

"But you can't! You're geniuses; you have a responsibility-"

"We honestly couldn't care less."

"You can't say that! What about the future of humankind?"

"Well: what about our present? Hmm?"

"But-"

Sophia stepped forward.

"Look, professors. I'm a scientist, just like you are. I get it: research is important. Your goals are noble. But not your methods. You can't just kidnap people to get what you want."

"But-"

"I'm willing to continue working with you. But not like this. As a free person. I'll help you, because I believe in your study."

Professor Walton looked surprised.

"Really? You'd continue the tests?"

"Yes. But I'll go back to my work as well and you can't take that from me."

Abby joined her friend.

"I'll do that too. I'll go home but we can keep in touch and I'll do what I can to help you."

"Me too, if my parents will let me." – The fifteen-year-old Cloe said.

"Wow. We have never expected your willingness…" – Admitted Hayward sheepishly. – "We'd never have kidnapped you otherwise."

"You're not very clever, are you?" – Asked the little girl sarcastically, rolling her eyes. – "You could have just asked! Duuuh!"

"Charlie!" – Mackenzie scolded her in horror. – "I'm sure she didn't mean it…"

"Yes, I did!"

Professor Gibbs shook his head sadly.

"No. It's okay. She's right."

Abel Jocelyn Hayward turned to Reid.

"Doctor Reid… Will you help us too?"

"You can't be serious!" – Then he thought about it a bit. Actually, the tests were a challenge he hadn't had in a long time and they were also interesting. Not to mention that he had missed doing scientific work ever since he had left the university to begin his training in Quantico. And being among scientists had been his dream before that… Before ending up in the FBI thanks to Gideon, he had been planning to pursue a scientific career at Caltech… Hmmm… - "Well. We'll see. But right now, I think we all have someplace else to be: namely home."

"Right. I'm sorry we did this to you all. I'm sorry we kidnapped you and held you here… and well. I'm just sorry." – Said Gibbs, hanging his head. The other three nodded in agreement. It seemed like they had only now realized what they had done.

Reid sighed.

"I believe it won't be a problem for you then to arrange transportation for some of us?" – The professors nodded. – "Marvelous. Come on, everyone. We're going home."

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

Half an hour later, it was only Reid, Charlotte, Mackenzie, Sophia and Abby left in the building; everyone else had already gone and the professors had also fled, afraid someone would call the authorities on them.

"I can't believe it's over." – Said Abby, still in awe. – "I was thinking I'd never get the chance to work on my own projects anymore."

The youngest profiler nodded.

"I'm sure Cosmology and Astrophysics are so much more interesting than the papers you had to work on here."

"Absolutely! Are you interested in these areas too, Spencer?"

"Yes, I am. I've always been fascinated by these topics."

"And what about the other nature sciences? Biology, Chemistry? Do you like them?" – Asked Sophia.

"I like everything." – Admitted the agent smiling.

"Then maybe we could work together on something sometime? The three of us." – Suggested Abby excitedly and the other two agreed right away.

"And what about me?" – Pouted Charlotte. – "I'm interested too!"

"I'm sorry, Charlie." – Giggled Sophia, crouching down to look the child in the eyes. – "Of course, you're welcome to join us too."

The little girl beamed. She had just talked to her parents over phone and knew they were on their way to come and get her. Also, it seemed that she wouldn't lose her new friends either; she really wouldn't want that.

 **CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM * CM**

At that moment, unbeknownst to the geniuses still inside, no less than four black FBI-issued SUVs stopped in front of the building and five armed BAU members, five armed OCU members and an unarmed ('You're not an agent anymore, I can't give you a gun, Jason!') Gideon jumped out, ready to storm in.

"On three!" – Whispered Hotch into his mic as the team had spread out to cover all the doors and windows. – "One, two, three!"

As the agents entered with guns pointed straight ahead, they found themselves face to face with three frightened women and a cowering child hiding behind a surprised Reid. They all seemed to be fine, aside from the scare their sudden appearance had clearly caused the females.

"Rossi? Ian? Gideon…?" – Said Reid finally. – "What are you all doing here?

"We came to rescue you, Kid!" – Answered Morgan simply, still holding his pistol and looking around. – "Where are the others? Where are the kidnappers?"

"They're all gone, Derek. It's only us left." – Explained the youngest team member, finally understanding what was going on. – "It's okay, you can all put away the weapons. We're fine. Come on, Lottie, don't be afraid. They're my friends."

"Your friends have guns!?" – She whispered rather loudly, pointing at the rescue team accusingly. – "It's dangerous!"

Reid sighed.

"They're FBI, Lottie. See their vests?"

"Still. I don't like guns."

"Oh… grrr. Simon, would you mind pointing that pistol somewhere else? You're upsetting her! And believe me: you don't want her to be upset!"

"Ahm… Genius Boy: are you all right?"

"Yeah, Reid." – Nodded Hotch. – "What happened here? What do you mean the others are gone?"

"We are all right and yes, they are gone, meaning they're not here. Not the scientists who took us and not the other hostages – they have all gone home already. We're waiting for Lottie's parents to come for her."

"But… how…?"

"We fought them, JJ. Not the way you'd think, probably… but we did and they let us go."

Ian shook his head.

"This can't happen."

"Why not?" – Asked Sophia laughing. – "I'm sorry, it's just funny. We wouldn't have thought it possible either, but then Spencer here made us realize we can take fate into our own hands and… what was it again? Oh, yes: Stick it to the Man! And it worked!"

"So, we're late…" – Muttered Rossi, finally accepting that there wouldn't be any rescuing to be done that day.

"Well, it's fine. I still would have called you guys to take me home."

"Spencer… Are you really all right? We were so worried."

"I'm absolutely all right, Gideon. Thanks for coming though."

"They hit him on the head." – Added the little girl helpfully. – "He was unconscious for two hours when they brought him here!"

"Lottie! This doesn't matter anymore!" – Hissed Reid, though it was too late: at least five people jumped to check on him and make sure he didn't have any lasting damage. – "Guys, really!" – He complained.

"Hey! We're just worried about you! You were kidnapped!" – Defended their actions Emily.

Reid groaned before turning to the little menace.

"Stop smirking, Lottie. Your parents will be exactly like that when they arrive!"

"So? It's not the same because I'm a child and you're _old_!"

"I'm not old!"

"Yes, you are!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Grrr… Am I really arguing with a five-year-old!?"

Marshall and Walker were still not completely at ease yet. They had gone to look around the whole building, searching for any evidence about the kidnappers' whereabouts.

"Do you happen to know where they've gone, Genius Boy?" – Marshall asked Reid when they came back empty-handed.

"No. And we have agreed not to go looking for them."

"WHAT!?"

Mackenzie hurried to explain:

"We don't want them prosecuted. Their methods were questionable but some of us agree with their studies."

"Excuse me!? 'Questionable'? You agree with their study? What the-"

"Kennedy! Sorry for that… It's just that it's a bit strange you wouldn't want them caught after what they did to you all…"

"It's okay, Emily. Dean. Please, guys, just drop it."

"We can't do that, Reid. What they did is a criminal offence and as such, we're obliged to do our job and try to catch the culprits." – Explained Hotch.

"Whatever… Lottie, I think your parents will soon be here."

"Oh, they can't see me like that; my hair's a mess from the tantrum I was throwing. Spencer, do something about it!"

"WHAT!? I don't know how to do someone's hair! I don't even bother with mine!" – The youngest profiler protested.

The little girl looked like she wanted to say something to that and even the other agents smirked evilly.

Reid groaned. He had given them munition for teasing again. Damn.

"Just tie it up."

"Mackenzie can do it. Or JJ or Emily…"

"No! YOU! You, you, you…"

"Grrr…"

He clumsily maneuvered the little girl's long curls into a ponytail while he saw his colleagues and friends watch him in complete shock.

"Wow." – Blurted Morgan.

"What?"

"Nothing…"

"I'm not totally incompetent, you know." – Reid said offended, even though he himself was surprised to realize he had done well with Lottie's hair.

"You know what, Spence? I think you'll be a great daddy one day."

"A daddy?" – Lottie repeated. – "But he's too young for that!"

"I thought you just said I was old."

"But not _that_ old! Statistically, American men usually become fathers for the first time at the age of 30,9 years." – She explained. – "Furthermore, men with higher education become fathers later than those with a lower education. So, one would think, a genius with multiple PhDs would—"

"Thank you, Lottie, this is quite enough of statistics. Don't worry, I'm not planning on becoming a father yet."

"Good. And statistics also says you, as a genius, have a good chance to have geniuses for kids as well. Especially if the mother is a genius too. So, if you and Maxie-"

" _Stop it, Lottie!_ "

Morgan whistled.

"Kid, this 'mini-me' is frighteningly similar to you."

"I really don't know what you're talking about, Derek. I'm nothing like her."

"Sure you're not, Kiddo." – Smirked Rossi.

Finally, Charlotte's teary-eyed parents arrived, and whisked her away to make sure she was indeed all right. She waved at Spencer as they walked towards the taxi and mouthed 'talk to you later' before disappearing. Reid waved back, feeling strangely empty all of a sudden.

"What? Missing her already?" – Smiled Mackenzie knowingly.

"Nonsense!" – But, in reality, he did miss the little monster.

Soon, the three other young women bid goodbye as well, promising each other and Reid to keep in touch and 'talk about things' – meaning the research they'll do together with the professors – later when everyone would calm down a bit.

Gideon narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"What was that all about? It's like you just returned from a vacation with friends, not survived a kidnapping." – He said.

"Funny you'd mention a vacation. I can't wait to travel to Europe!" – With that, Reid sat into an SUV, waiting for the others to snap out of their stupor and follow him so that they could finally return to Quantico. He hadn't had any coffee for days.


	8. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

It was very early in the morning, and Rossi and Reid were already standing at the airport, ready to drop off their bags before proceeding to security check.

"Here, Rossi: your tickets." – The youngest profiler said, handing his surrogate father the documents.

"No, Kiddo. My tickets are all here." – The older man smiled, pulling an envelope from the pocket of his coat and waving it proudly for his younger friend to see.

"But… I don't get it… I have two of everything here… Two plane tickets, two train tickets, two hotel reservations-"

"I believe one of those might be mine…" – Came the shy declaration from behind him, causing Reid to whip around quicker than he'd have thought possible.

"Sydney!?" – Then another beat… - " _Principal Wilcox_!?"

"Call me Wanda, dear. You aren't my student anymore. Actually, you, young man, never really were, right? It's so confusing… I can't believe you're an FBI agent, you still look about 16… And this young woman is already a college student. Oh, how time flies!" – The woman said in a sing-song voice, smiling at them fondly.

Reid turned to his surrogate father for help and found the man chuckling at his bewildered expression.

"I wanted it to be a surprise, Kiddo. I thought maybe you'd like to spend some time abroad with someone your age rather than with an old man like me."

"But-"

"It doesn't mean I won't be there! Wanda and I have rooms next to yours. Don't worry; we'll always knock before visiting you…"

" _ROSSI_!"

"We also have theater tickets to all the shows you have and I assume we'll visit most places together. Don't worry. So, what do you say?"

"Wow… I don't even know… I… thank you!"

"You're welcome, Kiddo. Shall we get rid of our luggage?"

"Sure!"

"I'm so excited!" – Exclaimed the girl happily. – "I've never been anywhere before!"

"Neither have I." – Admitted Reid. – "But it has always been my dream to travel a lot. To get to see different countries and other cultures…"

"Mine too. When David approached me with the idea of the trip… Wow. I couldn't even believe it."

"I'm so glad you're here! I swear, I didn't know about you coming."

She smiled.

"That was the idea."

Soon, it was their turn to approach the front desk to have their bags tagged and taken into the aircraft hold. Reid maneuvered first Sydney's baggage then his own onto the drop belt to be weighed. He was glad he had listened to Rossi in the end, and had decided to accept the small e-book reader device instead of carrying all the books he had originally wanted. This way, all his new and exciting socks had fit.

He chuckled at the memory of little Lottie's mother complaining the day before when they had talked on the phone that her little girl had been refusing to wear matching socks ever since she had returned from Florida. The five-year-old had claimed 'heroes' didn't match their socks because it was too boring for them. So, she had been insisting on different multicolored ones each day and had even sent a photo of her wearing a bright pink one with yellow stars on her left foot and a neon green one with orange stripes on her right foot. Reid couldn't be more proud of her.

Of course, he couldn't tell that the confused mother, so he had just assured her she had nothing to worry about; that it was perfectly normal for little children to go through stages like that.

"I'll need to buy some socks everywhere we go." – He stated absent-mindedly.

"But Kiddo…" – Groaned Rossi in exasperation. – "Don't you have enough already? You chose not to bring enough pants so that all your socks will all fit…"

"Not for me. For Lottie."

Sydney narrowed her eyes dangerously.

"And may I ask who that 'Lottie' girl is?"

Reid chuckled.

"Well, sorry to say, Sydney, but you have to accept it: she's a very important person in my life."

"WHAT!? Who's she?"

Seeing that she looked like an enraged dragon ready to lash out any minute, and thus fearing the whole scenario would end with him traveling alone, Spencer quit joking and answered seriously.

"She's a small but strong and feisty five-year-old." – He explained. – "A good friend."

"Oh!"

"So: don't worry. She's no competition to you, Sydney dear." – Winked Rossi and Wanda playfully hit his arm. – "Ouch! What was that for?"

"Don't tease these young lovebirds, David! Can't you see how they're blushing?"

That made the two turn an even deeper red, of course.

"Khm… Should we head to security check?" – Asked Reid, trying to steer the topic away from his love life; it was so embarrassing!

"Yep! Let's go!"

"We'll have so much fun!"

 _The end_


End file.
